


A Turtle on the Outside, a Wolf on the Inside

by Sairey13



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: Anti-Donatello/April, Anti-Leonardo/Karai, Anti-Michelangelo/Renet, Anti-Michelangelo/Shinigami, F/M, Gen, Karai is Their Older Half-Sister, Leonardo Doesn't Want to be Leader, Leonardo Wants Freedom!, Leonardo and Raphael are Twins, Leonardo is Part Wolf, Lone Wolf Leonardo, More Animal Than Human Leonardo, Protective Leonardo (TMNT), Sibling Moments Between Leonardo and Karai, The Turtles Won't Have Human Love Interests, The Turtles are Splinter's Biological Sons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-06
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-03-19 19:08:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 22
Words: 325,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18976624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sairey13/pseuds/Sairey13
Summary: Before Yoshi got the turtles from the Pet Store, Leo was found playing with the manager's dog, who was told to be a wolf-hybrid. Right before Yoshi took the turtles away, Leo ate some of the canine's fur and when he got mutated, the mutagen somehow enhanced the inside of his body to match a wolf's behavior and abilities. NO T-CEST, LEORAI or APRITELLO!





	1. A Human, Turtle or Wolf?

Just know that this is my first TMNT story, so if you can, please go easy on me for trying. Enjoy!

* * *

**March 4, 2012**  
I _never told the guys or Master Splinter about the secret I've held for as long as I could remember when I first experienced the feeling inside of me. I don't know how they would react if they find out that I'm not entirely a mutant humanoid turtle, or if they were to find out that I'm not just part turtle and part human... It all started almost fifteen years ago, back when my brothers and I were just baby turtles and when Master Splinter was still known as Hamato Yoshi..._

* * *

**Flashback...  
**"Damn it! That turtle got out, again!" The pet store manager cried out, seeing that there are three baby turtles playing in their glass tank bowl, when he should be seeing four baby turtles in the glass tank bowl.

He also saw that the lid, that's been sealing the top of the tank to prevent the pets inside from getting out, was removed and laying flat-out on the left-side of the tank, which the manager knows that the missing turtle couldn't have down that on his own. Immediately, he figured out where the missing turtle's at and facepalm his face from not realizing it sooner.

"Damn it, Shadow!" The manager yelled out, setting the lid back in its place to be sure that the remaining turtles wouldn't get out, and made his way to the room next door, where they keep the dogs in until they're bought and sold to their new owners.

There are thirteen dogs inside the pen, most of them awake and barking playfully, while the rest of the dogs are sleeping peacefully in their pen until they smelled the manager of the shop passing by and lifted their heads to watch him go by before returning to their sleeping.

By the time the manager reached the end of the room, his hunches of his dog being the turtle-napper was correct when he saw his midnight-black canine-companion gently nuzzling the missing baby turtle, which was laying in front of the canine and in-between the large-animal's paws to prevent it from wondering off, despite the little creature being slower than a dog. Both animals were too caught up on playing with each other, that they didn't notice the canine's owner standing in front of them until they both heard a continuous angry tapping on the floor that was irritating the dog's sharp hearing. When the large-animal looked up and his moon-blue eyes stared into his owner's grey-brown eyes, did the animal lowered his head in shame, his nose gently nuzzling the small-turtle to give it comfort when it sunk into its shell from the tapping they've heard.

"Shadow, how many times do I have tell you to stop taking that turtle out of its tank?" Knowing from the start that he would get in trouble and since he couldn't really answer back to the manager, Shadow let out whimpers and looked back up at his answers with his large, puppy-dog eyes, hoping that his secret weapon will get him into less trouble than he already was in. His owner wasn't very amuse by his dog's attempt to get out of trouble. "I don't have time for this, Shadow; he and his brothers are going to be sold, possibly today, and I have to make sure that I have  _all_  four baby turtles ready to be bought or they won't be able to go to their forever home."

The owner then leaned in over his dog's face, who let out a couple of more whimpering sounds, and watch his owner gently but firmly grab both side of his little friend's shell. Sensing himself being captured and about to be taken away from his canine-companion, the little turtle reached his little head out of his shell and made a quick grab for Shadow's leg, trapping a few pieces of his fur in his little beak. Being so small and helpless, the store manager had no problem on pulling the turtle away from the wolf-dog, even when the little creature had a grip onto his fur, and then calmly left the kennel part of the store. Unknown to the store manager, that when he pulled the small turtle away from his dog, a few strands of the mammal's fur were lightly pulled away from the dog and are now being kept within the turtle's mouth... Which were then, by mere fear of being lifted away, were swallowed and are now inside of the turtle's small-stomach.

Once he was placed back inside of the tank with his three brothers, who all corralled over to their big brother and butted heads against each other in rejoice on being back together, the manager went back to his place at the cashier, where he didn't have to wait long for his next customer to come through his shop's door: It was Hamato Yoshi, and to the store manager's luck, he came to buy the four baby turtles. Not only was the manager more than happy to give his customer the four turtles, but he also gave him a discount on buying all four of the turtles, which ended up with the thirty-five year-old man to give up ten dollars for the small creatures. Shadow, who came through the door of the kennel room, watched the whole thing happening before his eyes and let out whimpers of sadness when he knew that his little friend was no longer going to be with him.

Hearing the dog's distress cry from the tank, the small turtle crawled towards the side that was closest to the canine and started tapping his little paw against the glass, letting out little squeaking cries to let out his own cry of distress, right before the manager grabbed him and placed him inside a small fishbowl full of sand with his brothers and handed them over to their new owner. Even as they went through the front door and went around the corner, the small turtle never left his gaze that were implanted to where the pet store was just at, hoping that at any moment, Shadow would come running in from behind the human that took him and his siblings, and then would whisk him away to where only the two of them would be together. Though he love and cares for his younger brothers and would want his canine-friend to take them as well, he knew that they never liked the black wolf-dog from the moment he took their big brother out of their tank for the first time and would never want to stay with turtle-napper, even if that certain turtle-napper is a friend of their big brother that never did any harm to the small-creature.

The small-turtle suddenly felt something large and warm gently touch his little-head, startling the small creature to shrink into his shell in fear that the human that took him and his brothers was going to hurt him. When he felt that certain warm-feeling go to the back of his shell, the turtle let out a small hissing sound, hoping that his warning cry would scare the human and make it cease with whatever it was doing to him. He then heard the human chuckle, his voice holding a deep but caring tone.

"You must be the oddball that I was told who played with the store manager's wolf-dog," the human said to the turtle. The warm feeling on his shell finally left him, a sign that the small-turtle can come out of his shell. Once he did came out of his shell, he was quite stunned to see the human giving his younger brothers the same treatment it gave to him: Brushing and stroking his younger brother's head and shell, which they all seemed to liked and enjoyed very much. Nevertheless, the eldest of the bunch made his way towards the finger that was petting his baby brother and tried to snap his beak onto the finger, only to bite at the air, itself, when the finger pulled away just in time to avoid being bitten. "And you sure are very protective over your brothers." Yoshi added, letting out another chuckle in amusement from one of his new pet-turtles intriguing him by displaying his reaction and behavior when a stranger's display their own affection to their new pet.

As he continues to make his way to his apartment that was a couple of blocks away from the pet store, a strange man bumped into Yoshi, not bothering to apologize or take notice that the thirty-five year-old can sense something odd about him. Within the small bowl, the eldest turtle can also sense something wrong about that human who shoved by his new owner and let out a hiss towards the direction of the walking man, warning his younger brothers and Yoshi that the man walking away from them is bad news. And boy, for an infant turtle, he was right.

When Yoshi decided to follow the strange man and hid himself behind the wall of a building next to the alley, did he saw was another man, looking exactly like the same stranger that bumped into him. He then noticed that one of two men was holding a canister, filled with some strange glowing substance that the thirty-five year-old had never seen before. He took another silent step closer to the alley, only to have accidentally step on a rat's tail, that let out a squeal of pain and had alerted the two men that they've been spotted.

 **"Go no further."** One of the men said to Yoshi, slowly walking towards him to gang up on the thirty-five year-old man and his pet turtles.  **"This place is a place where you are not allowed to be in this place."**

While the two in front of Yoshi came up closer to him, the eldest turtle heard footsteps coming up from behind his new owner and let out another hiss, warning his owner that it's being surrounded and is most likely going to be attacked from behind, while his younger brothers huddled up behind him in fear of being grabbed and wanting their eldest brother to protect them from the four humans surrounding them and their new owner.

**"We have been seen in this place by you, so this is not a place that will be left by you."**

Though he may appear helpless and look as though he doesn't stand a chance against four strange men, what they didn't know is that Hamato Yoshi is one of the top masters of Ninjutsu in all of Japan. So, when the two men from behind him tried to pin him down to make it easier for the other two men to attack him, he fought back. Being mindful that he has his baby turtles with him and not wanting to put them on the sideline of danger, he kicked the two men from behind him out of the alley, forcing them to land on the street and/or hit against some of the parked cars. He then turned his attention to the other two men, using one hand to hold the bowl that still held the baby turtles and using the other hand to form itself into a fist to deliver painful punches. Apparently, when he punched the fourth man to the ground, he has caused his opponent to release his hold on the canister, which then flew in midair for a few seconds and then landed... Right on top of Yoshi and shattered from the mere force and strength the human has within him.

The blow to the head was enough to force the thirty-five year-old man to release his hold on the bowl his pet turtles still remained inside of and the bowl shattered when it hit the ground, releasing the turtle from its hold and forcing them to land on separate spaces on the ground, covered with the glowing substance. When they were forced to scattered, the eldest turtle landed near the glow-covered Hamato Yoshi, who was withering in pain and going through a terrible transformation. While going through the changes, some of the substance that landed on Yoshi dripped off of the thirty-five year-old man and some of them fell on top of the eldest turtle, some of it covering his shell and face... And the rest went straight into his mouth when he let out a shriek of fear from the sight of his new owner changing into a bigger beast, forcing him to swallow the substance and having him to also go through the terrible burning feeling of his own transformation.

To the little-turtle, it felt like the burning sensation lasted for hours, when it had actually lasted for about ten to fifteen seconds and by the time it finally ended, he knew that at this very moment, he was no longer a turtle. Right when his vision went blurry and his hearing started to silence the world around him, he was able to get fuzzy-glimpses of the still forms of his brothers and a large-beast, which happened to be his owner but he couldn't tell what it actually looked like from his vision starting to go black, quickly scooped the four of them into the folds of its arms and swiftly leaving the alley. And with those being the last to remember his life as a normal turtle, the eldest turtle knew nothing else and fell into the comfort of the silencing darkness.  
**End of Flashback...**

* * *

_And that was the last thing I remember of my life as a normal turtle, and the beginning of my new life as a humanoid-turtle... Although, my life as a humanoid-turtle didn't start the moment my brothers and/or Sensei did._

_The moment I was fully mutated, I was deaf, I had my eyes closed for months and I couldn't walk or even move my limbs like my brothers could when they were four to seven months old. Sensei told me that during my infancy stage, all I ever did was sleep, like I was hibernating, and stayed completely still in our sleep-spot, unless my brothers would accidentally push me a bit that placed me in a different position whenever they would play with one other, or whenever it was time for us to be bathed or fed. He also claimed that I rarely made a sound and I ate so little, that I didn't drink even half of the bottle that he would give us milk from (Where he gotten the milk from, was at a grocery store that he would sneak into at the middle of the night to gather food, before the store manager put up security to catch the thief and protect any more of his food products when we were turning two years old). Master Splinter was worried that I wouldn't make it, that I was going to become a lost cause if he continued to take care of me when I showed no signs of waking up or moving. However, he refused to give up on me and wasn't going to leave me for death without a fight._

_While Master Splinter and my brothers began their lives on the exact day of our mutation, my life started when I was near my first year of life, which I was about eight and a half months old._

* * *

**Flashback...  
**He wasn't sure how long he had his eyes closed for, or how long he saw is the darkness in front of him when he would no longer be able to dream from the sound of a stranger and brothers interrupting his peaceful nap, which he has grown used to when he was able to hear at four months old, until they're to sleep with him, but he does know that it's been a long time since he saw anything but the darkness. And now, feeling a bit restless and wanting to see something that isn't the darkness, the turtle gathered what little strength he has inside of him to force his eyes to open from heavy eyelids that prevented him from seeing the world around him the very moment he was turned into a humanoid turtle.

It was literally tiring him out on having to open his eyes, which wasn't the first time he tried opening them up and ended up with the same results on having to forcefully give up and continue on sleeping until he was a bit stronger to try again, but he has a feeling that this would be the very moment he  _will_  open his eyes and that feeling, alone, is all the motivation he needs to keep on trying and to not give up on his efforts.

**_"Uhm... Hmm..."_ **

He could hear his brothers and a deep voice around him, all sleeping at this very moment from the activities that has satisfied them all until they only had the energy to cuddle up and sleep. How he has wished to see how his brothers turned out to be after being mutated into humanoid turtles, how he wish to see the man who has taken them away from the pet store became their master. But most of all, he wish that the moment he sees them, that he would be able to bond with his brothers and master, and make up for lost time they haven't been able to start together, after months of being forced to do nothing but sleep the months away.

It was at that moment, that he noticed a small line of light, signifying that his eyelids are starting to open. Excitement rushed throughout his entire being, as he forced his eyes to open a bit more, watching the small line of light getting bigger by the second... Then, finally, after months of being in darkness and only having his dreams be his only company from within the darkness and the sound of his family around him, his eyes finally opened and could see what he's been missing for so long. It took some time for his eyes to get adjusted to the light, since they've never seen the light before he was no longer an ordinary turtle, but after a few blinks and rubbing the blurriness out of his eyes, did his vision finally came to focus.

He let out a small gasp when he was able to see all around, as he slowly and quietly lifted himself from where he has laid and was soon sitting up... Surrounded and in the center of his family in what appears to be their sleep-spot. He was completely surprised to see how his brothers turned out after being mutated: human-infant bodies, three-fingers and toes, large-shells surrounding and protecting their body if threat were to ever come for them. The boy smiled softly at how his brothers turned out, happy to know that all three of them are unharmed, safe and healthy. He then noticed a long, pink-tail curled around himself and his brother, as if it was there to keep the four small turtles from wondering off or roll away in their sleep. He then watch the long tail slowly pulling in on them and bringing the small infants towards a large-figure that the turtle didn't noticed until he heard a couple of low grunts and murmuring sound from behind him.

When he turned himself to face the figure, he was startled to be seeing a large-rat laying beside him and his brothers, sleeping with them as if the four infants are his young... Which, after slightly scooting a bit closer to the large-creature but still at a far distance in case he was a threat to him and his brothers, as he sniffed the creature's scent, did the boy made the discovery that he and his brothers carry the rat's scent. However, scent, alone, wasn't enough proof if he and his brothers have marked as the humanoid-rat's own children or if it was going to plan on eating them, judging by the large-teeth the large-mammal's showing from its mouth gaped.

"Urg... Saki..." The rat muttered in his sleep, bringing the turtle out of his trains of thoughts and to watch the rat's expression go from calm to pain, fear and anger. "...No... Shen... Miwa...!"

Hearing the hurt in his voice on the last two words he spoke, along with feeling he knew where he heard that voice from but couldn't remember from where at this very moment, the small turtle felt the uncomfortable feeling of something crushing his heart and he didn't like the feeling one bit.

**_Go! Get away from sad and hurt feeling! Don't like feeling hurting heart! Get away from feeling!_ **

His first instinct was to get up and get as far away from the negative feelings as possible, but another instinct got in the way.

_Stay! Don't leave! Can't leave hurt and sad! Don't leave creature sad and hurt!_

Instead of it being an actual instinct, his conscience came to give him second thoughts and didn't wants him to leave the rat, hurt and sad. It was a hard decision for the eight month-old turtle to choose, but after seeing the depressing look on the rat's face, which somehow added the hurt feeling even more in his chest and sensing his three brothers unconsciously feeling the negative emotion around them, from seeing them twitching in their sleep and letting out small whimpers that indicated their fears and pain, the eldest turtle knew that he has to try and make the feeling go away. So, on wobbly arms and legs that haven't been in use for months and being as careful as he could on not bumping against his sleeping brothers or waking them up, the small turtle crawled his way towards the rat, where he sat at the right-side of the creature's sleeping-figure, next to the midsection of the neck. At first, he was a bit hesitate on making the first move, but he knows that the sooner he tries to comfort the creature, the sooner the hurt feeling will go away. Even if he doesn't succeed on calming the sleeping rat, at least knowing that he tried to help will soothe his guilty conscience.

So, after taking a deep breath, he slowly raised his small left-hand and moved it towards the fur on the rat's neck. The moment he palm lightly rested against the tip of the fur, the little-turtle was indeed surprised on how soft the top of the fur was. Then, after making sure that his touch hasn't jostled the rat out of his sleep, the boy added a little more pressure on laying his hand into the fur and then, slowly stroked the fur. The small boy was a little disappointed that his comfort wasn't doing any effect on the rat, but after the next few strokes and a little bit more pressure that has him feeling the creature's skin through the thick fur, the creature finally started to calm down and cease his murmuring.

The feeling of something clutching at the boy's heart began to fade, as he kept on soothing the mammal's sadness and fear. The more the child stroke the brown and black-fur, the less hurt and sad the large-creature felt and the more the hurt feeling in the child's chest went away on becoming nonexistence. Eventually, the rat finally went silent, only breathing calming and settling in a perfect rhythm that shows he's now sleeping peacefully. Smiling in satisfaction that he has soothe the creature into a more comfortable sleep and seeing his brothers no longer feeling the negative emotions around them to ruin their sleep, the turtle gently patted the rat's neck before he quietly crawled away from the mammal, trusting it to not eat his brothers while he goes off to explore a bit, and the sleep-spot the small group continue to sleep on.

Now that he can see and knows that his family will be okay, all the infant wants to do is go explore his new surroundings and find out what he's been missing for the past eight months, along with learning how to gain better control of his body and get it use to moving around instead of laying still in one spot twenty-four/seven. He wasn't sure what the strange objects are around him called or what they do, like the weird box that has moving pictures going on through the glass or the long-blue thing in front of the moving-picture box that looks like it would be fun to jump on or be more comfortable to sleep or sit on, but what he does know is that every item that he sees before his deep-blue eyes are his and his brothers, along with the large-mammel if it's a friend, to keep and belong to only them. He eventually found small sets of steps, leading up towards a large-hole that leads outside of the large territory, of the den that must belong to the humanoid-rat.

At first, he was planning on staying away from the large-hole that leads to the darkness and head back to his brothers and large creature on their sleep-spot, but the urge and instinct to go exploring and seeing that there are red-lights lighting a trail within the darkness, the boy couldn't resist the opportunity to not check it out. Seeing that he could most likely get his knees hurt if he were to crawl over the small steps, the small turtle placed a hand on the step in front of him and used it to help him get up off his knees and to stand on his own two feet for the very first time. Again, because he hasn't been moving his body for months and has never once walked on only his hind-legs in his small life, his body isn't use to the sudden change of position it was in and his legs wobble from being unused for so long and not having to hold up so much weight before, even when the boy barely weigh that much.

Not only was his legs a bit weak on having to hold up so much weight, but his shell, alone, was making his balance a bit more difficult to gain because of its own weight it carries and has nearly caused the child to fall on his back and leave him stuck on his back until he could either turn himself over to his side or roll himself off his shell. How he wish that he could simply crawl up the steps to get through the opening, if they didn't have pointed edges or feel as if they have sharp-pieces of broken glass all around them that could cut into his knees. Despite being new to moving only his hind-legs and having to fall on his knees, along with trying to hold in his wince and hurt cries whenever he cuts his skin onto the hard ground and nearly waking up his brothers and large-mammal from the continuous thumps he would make when he would fall to the ground, in just six minutes, he finally gotten the hang of walking, even when his shell would still try to pull him a bit too far back.

The next part he would have to learn is walking up the steps, which will result of him to lift his legs a bit higher than they normally would to help him move up the steps. Luckily, for him, while he lifts his feet to get them over the steps, he was allow to use the railing of the steps as support if he ever feels himself going to fall backwards and to keep himself up until he gets to the next step. Eventually, he makes it to the final steps of the small staircase and after crawling under what the small-turtle believe to be a gate, the boy finds himself outside at the opening of the den. Unlike the darkness he has to see through his shut-eyelids, the darkness of the tunnels didn't scare him much because the tunnels had red-lights that leads the way to wherever they start or end... And in the darkness, despite seeing the darkness for months, it brings a certain comfort to the small turtle.

Soon, curiosity gotten the best of him when he wants to see where the lights of the tunnel leads him to, that he didn't hesitant on following towards the direction that showed a long-trail of red-lights to the left-side of his den's opening. Wondering if he could go faster, the turtle tried to make his feet go a little faster, which left him to once again fall to the floor and get a few more cuts into his skin and some to actually scratch into his plastron. And still, even with his body and skin now carrying a lot of cuts and some of them leaving a small trail of blood, the deep-blue eyed turtle won't allow himself to cry. Thinking it would be easier to be moving forward in a position that was more useful and comfortable, the boy chose to continue following the trail of red-lights by crawling.

Time went by slowly, but to the infant-turtle, he felt like he's been following the red-lights for an eternity inside of the large-tunnel, the trail and tunnel feeling like it doesn't have a beginning or an end at all. The small-turtle was getting tired the more he continued on following the trail, and his body was getting very sore the more he kept on crawling on the rough-floor that continues to cut into his skin to leave new scratch-marks and dig in deeper to the more opened wounds he gave to himself when learning how to walk. He was already thinking about to stop following the trail and to head back for the den, when he started to hear something far out within the tunnel in front of him. It didn't sound like footsteps, for the sounds has more than one or two feet hitting the ground and it sounded like whatever it was hitting the ground is increasing the speed of meeting the ground.

The eldest turtle wanted to try and get their quicker and was thinking about crawling a bit faster, but he knows that the idea of scraping his knees even more into the ground will hurt a lot more. So, he tries to lift his knees off the ground, which resulted of him being force to straighten his arms making him stand on all-four... Which instantly have him recall of his past-life as a regular turtle on how he would move: By walking on all-four, resulting on moving by using his hands and feet as his transportation, not by his hands and knees or using just his back-legs that he still barely been able to get used to having to move him around.

The boy smiled at the past he still remembers, especially the good old days where he would get out of his tank and play with the manager's wolf-dog, Shadow. His mind then had him lock on to how he would watch Shadow move on all-four, which includes on how he would jog-trot and when there was time he would be very excited about something that he couldn't help but run around in the shop or run through the dog-door of the shop and go off to play for a little while. Back then, the turtle thought that whenever the wolf-dog runs, he more looks like he was doing mini-hops, sort of like how rabbits would run and hop, since he would use his hind-legs to kick him off his feet and be in midair for a bit until his forearms would help him land back on solid ground. Looking down at the way he positioned himself on all-four, knowing that his older walk on all-four from the past was much more different than the way he's doing it, he found himself in a similar position that Shadow and the dogs at the kennels would stand.

**_Run... Run to sound. Run on all-four... Run... To freedom._ **

His first instinct came back, fueling his urge to follow the sound, to run the same way Shadow and the other canines would move swiftly as they please. Even as an infant, the turtle understood what his instincts are telling him to do and to the meaning of the word 'freedom'.

_Don't leave... Stay with brothers! Need you. Miss you! Too young to leave, too soon for freedom! Need time. Wait until bigger, older and stronger..._

His conscience intervened once again, reminding the infant that he can't go off and leave his brothers that he just seen for the first time in over eight months, especially when he has no knowledge on how to survive the dangers that could happen to him at any moment or how to provide for himself to get on the days to come. Silence was all the small-turtle could hear, making him wonder if his newly-found instinct couldn't come up with an answer or an agreement for the suggestion his conscience brought up, or if it was waiting for the infant to make his own choices. And right now, all he wants to do is follow the continuous sound of something tapping onto the ground and figure out what it was.

**_...Stay with Kins, stay for now. Once all are bigger, older and stronger, leave Kins... Leave for freedom. For now, explore._ **

Smiling to the agreement his instinct just said to him and feeling excitement coursing through his small body, the boy was more than ready to get going. Before he did, however, he first has to relearn on how to move on all-four by his hands and feet, which was a little difficult for him to do because he has to be sure his hands were apart from one another and away from his feet to avoid tripping over them if they get caught against each other while he stares out what's in front of him.

It didn't take that much time for him to get used to not crawling on his knees than it did with walking on just his two feet, but he still wants to move a bit faster than the speed he's going in. Once again memorizing on how Shadow and some of the dogs would move a bit faster and/or run on all-four, the turtle decided to try and do the jog-trot.

From what he remembers on how they do it, the canines would lift their paws a bit higher off the ground and would have all four-legs move as a unison: Either doing left-arm and right-leg first and vise versa, making them looks as if they're sprint-jumping, or sometimes left-side first and vise versa, which almost looks like they're doggy-paddling on land when they're not in the waters. The child then recalls that whenever Shadow does his jog-trot, rather than lifting his head up like most of the dogs would, he would actually lower his head down a bit to make him and his back straight as a smooth plank-wood, almost like he's out in the woods and is stalking for his prey.

The turtle decided to give it a try, and started moving himself on all-four. Then, he tried to go a bit faster by moving his legs a bit faster, which almost had him tripping over his own arms and fall face first onto the ground. Luckily, he stopped himself from falling with his own hands and before he realize it, he was no longer doing the jog-trot, but has started the run-gallop when both his legs landed together mere inches behind his arms and launched him a bit high in the air, making him reach his arms out to catch him and prevent him from landing roughly on the ground. Immediately, he was starting to see a pattern: Whenever his legs land together, he lifts his hands off the ground and against his chest, ready to thrust them out in the open to catch him. And whenever they land together to stop him from falling, his legs would curl themselves a bit while in the air and set themselves to land a few inches from his hands to start the cycle all over again.

Before he realized it, he was going so fast, that he could feel the wind blowing against him and his heart thundered in a rhythm that tells him of two things: He was running as a wolf, and he was running free. He was so distracted from realizing that he was going fast and overly excited from figuring out what the taste and feel of freedom is, that he wasn't expecting for either his instinct or his conscience to interrupt his fun.

_Stop! Made it to spot. Made it where sound is making._

Immediately, after his feet has landed on the ground, the child lifted the top-half of his body to put in a bigger gap between his hands and his feet, forcing him to cease his run-gallop and for him to realize that he was out of breath on having to be going fast for who knows how long to the small-infant.

**_*Drip!... Drip!... Drip!... Drip!...*_ **

Hearing the sound continuing on and feeling something wet underneath his left-hand, the boy turned to his left and looked up, finding himself staring at a drain that's been allowing water to come into the tunnel from the pouring rain that's going on before his deep-blue eyes. As it continued on dripping rainwater, the boy realized how dry his mouth is and how parched he felt after that run he just did, so he leaned in on the wall that was underneath the drain and opened his mouth to let the water come dripping in to quench his thirst. The water was quite refreshing, even though it was cold, and he didn't mind that the water would pour over his small body. In fact, he actually enjoys the feeling of water washing over him and washing away whatever substance that still clings to his skin, especially if the substance is dry blood from his scrapes.

When he no longer felt thirsty and feeling much more refreshed that his skin no longer held any bloodstains, the turle gently leaned his shell against the wall that has helped him gain his balance while standing on his legs and slowly allowed himself to sit against the wall, simply enjoying the feeling of his skin being moisturized instead of being stuck on the sleep-spot for so long and only being bathed once every few days when some large-being would remove him from the sleep-spot and take him to another area in a spot filled with warm-water and some sort of foam-substance that the turtle wasn't familiar with. He does remember, back when he was still a normal turtle, that he and his brothers would be removed from their tank once every three or four days and be placed in a fish bowl, then they sleep or watch the store-manager or an employee dump the water out of their temporarily home and then would use a yellow-object covered in white-stuff to wipe the glass of the tank with, before they would rinse the white-stuff out of their case and replace their old water with new water. He wasn't sure if the foam-substance and the white-stuff could be linked to one another, but what he does know is that they both carry a sort of scent that doesn't match to any earthly-environment and wasn't sure if he liked his skin smelling like those two substances instead of his usual scent of earth and water.

As the water continued on pouring down over him, the child began to shiver when the temperature around him started to drop and was having trouble keeping the water from getting into his eyes. So, after scooting away from the drain above him and getting himself on all-four, the child shook his body, just like Shadow and the other mammals would do back at the pet store, to get any remaining water or any dirt off of his small-form still clung to his skin or shell. It didn't help get rid of the cold eating away his body heat, but at least he was dry, as long as he stays away from the drain and the puddle. And speaking of the puddle, it just got bigger in size than it originally was when the small-turtle first came to the drain and when he finished shaking his body to get rid of the rain-water that coated him. Realizing that he never gotten the chance to see how he came out after being mutated eight months ago and seeing how his family came to be, the turtle stared down at the puddle, looking right down at his reflection:

He already knew, on having to stare at his hands when he woken up and his feet when learning how to walk, he has three fingers, three toes and his skin's darker than his brothers, resembling to a forest-green color. His shell, rather than swallowing up his entire body and only letting his head and his arms out like it used to when he was a normal turtle, the back of the shell was thin and the highest it would reach behind him was to the halfway point of his neck, while his plastron covered his chest area and only reached up to cover his collarbones. He also noticed that his neck wasn't as long as it used to be as a turtle and that his head was round, but smooth and his face curved down a bit for still having his beak. Then, he saw his eyes; he never thought he would ever see his eyes again, but now, he can finally see them once more: Deep-blue, almost near to a dark-cerulean/sapphire color.

The small boy smiled, happy to finally get the chance to truly see himself for who he is. He then reached his small hand out and placed it on the puddle, watching the ripples of the small water dance around and making his image change its shape, before it finally settled and allowed his image to be as it was before his hand laid itself on the puddled ground. He may not have a voice or know how to use that voice to speak, but he can surely think up the words that popped up in his head on how he feels.

 _'Me... True-self me... Happy-self me... Real me...'_ Then, like any normal infant would do when they're happy, he let out giggles of happiness and then went into splashing the puddle in front of him.  _'Happy... Me, happy... Found true-self me... Happy, me...'_

He didn't seem to care on how much he was getting himself wet, considering he already gave himself makeshift-shower from the drain above him, and felt like there was nothing that could take away his feeling of joy and happiness on having to discover his true-self as a humanoid-turtle... Wait a sec? A Humanoid-turtle?

As soon as the happiness came, it suddenly vanished, replaced by confusion and another odd feeling that he wasn't sure it was. The boy knew something wasn't right if he sensed his happiness going away and being replaced by a feeling similar to the hurt feeling that he felt when the humanoid-rat was muttering words that made the boy's heart ache in pain, only this feeling held a different kind of hurt in his heart. A bead of water that glided down his little-face from his splashing dripped off of his skin and fell into the puddle beneath him, getting him to look down when he felt that drop jumping off of his skin. Immediately, he knew something wasn't quite right about his reflection, something he didn't realized when he was examining himself.

_'Wrong?... What's wrong?... F _ound_  true-self me... What's wrong, True-self me?'_

He couldn't really tell what was wrong about his reflection; all he see is himself, a humanoid-turtle like his brothers and a humanoid-creature like the large-rat creature... Although, he did notice something wasn't right about what he see in his reflection... Or better yet, what he  _doesn't_  see in his reflection.

His memory then came back to him on the very day he was bought, that he had swallowed some of Shadow's fur and then, right when the and his brothers fell into the mutagen, that he had swallowed some of the substance that lingered off of his owner and it caused his insides to burn in pain like the substance did on his body when it landed on top of him. But at the same time, he felt the inside of his body change. His organs, his muscles, even his skeletal structure changing. Most of all, he felt his heart and mind changed, making him being able to feel and know things of other beings around him and himself more than most people do about themselves...

He then realized that whatever that substance he just swallowed not only changed the outside of his body into a humanoid-turtle, it had also changed the inside of his body... But not in the same way his body was changed as. He wasn't sure how to describe it, but he had a feeling that whatever it was going on inside of his body, he felt like the pieces of fur of Shadow's he ate had something to do with the problem he has about his appearance. He then noticed something was wrong about himself: It was his eyes. He wasn't sure how he didn't figured it out sooner, but it was his eyes that set off the warning bells inside of his mind and the missing link to what it was missing of his appearance... They were the wrong colors.

Back when he was still living at the pet store, he remembers a time where he would stand close to the glass of his tank and then he would see another turtle in front of him, which would keep on copying his every move when he tries to touch the turtle or try to scare it off with his warning hiss. It took him a while to figure out that the turtle he's been seeing in front of him, whenever he stands too close to the glass, that it was merely a reflection of himself. Once he realized that his reflection was no threat to him, the turtle decided to study his own appearance, which there wasn't very much to see the difference between him and his brothers: Same shells, same color skins, same faces. Besides the fact that his first younger brother is the biggest in their group and his youngest brother is the smallest in the group, there was nothing in his reflection or his brothers that could show them being different from one another... However, after a closer look in examination with his eyes and turning to stare at his brothers playing or swimming around in the small water of their tanks, the eldest turtle had found a trace of difference between him and his brothers: Their eyes.

The child never really thought about the color of their eyes when they were normal-turtles; all he knew was that they'd hatched together and are brothers, instinctively feeling that they're all equals with no flaws or differences, always assuming that the four of them are one in the same... Until he took a good look at his own reflection and was staring at his eyes, wondering if his brothers' eyes had also changed colors like his did. The last time he remembers his brothers' eye-colors, his first younger brother's eyes were a light-grey with green specks. His second younger brother's were brownish-red, though his eyes seemed a bit more of a mud-red color. Lastly, his youngest brother's eyes was the only turtle who had blue eyes, which were a light-blue color.

He may not know if his brothers also had their eyes changed as well, but he knew perfectly well that his eyes had changed colors: Because when he saw the colors of his eyes through the glass, they didn't have a color at all... His eyes were just black. No red, no grey, no brown, and  _definitely_  no blues in the mixture. His eyes was  _all_  black, blending in perfectly with his pupils.

 _'Eyes... Wrong eyes... Why wrong eyes?'_  It didn't even take him a second to figure out the answer to that. The strange substance that he swallowed most likely changed his eyes to be a different color when it was changing the inside of his small-form, though he wasn't sure why it changed his eyes to be deep-blue when the substance was a ocean-blue/green color. His mind then went back to his memories, back to where he ate the pieces of Shadow's fur and back to the strange substance he was forced to swallow before the burning pain began to course through his body.  _'Shadow's fur?... How fur make wrong eyes?'_

_His eyes... Shadow's eyes. What were they?_

The boy cocked his head to the side, his eyes still staring down at his reflection but his mind going through his past thoughts about his canine-friend.

_'Shadow's eyes?... Why Shadow's eyes?'_

_**Alpha-Brother Shadow same color eyes... Alpha-Brother's eyes blue, also.** _

And he knew that his instincts was right on that, since the turtle had always seen Shadow everyday at the pet store and had played with the wolf-dog when he first learned how to walk without tripping or knocking himself against his brothers, and the wolf-dog had always lowered his large-head to get a better look at the infant turtle, meeting eye-to-eye with one another... Black eyes always meeting moon-blue eyes for no more than the first two weeks of the infant turtle's life.

_Substance from Shiny likely merged with Shadow's fur inside stomach, changed inside of body to be like Shadow... Be wolf on inside._

There was no denying or arguing to what his conscience just said; deep inside, within his little-heart, the boy knew that he isn't as he appears to be. On the outside, he's just a little humanoid-turtle. However, on the inside, he was neither human or turtle, but a wolf, and the only physical sign of that proof but something that nobody will ever know of, is his non-black but deep-blue eyes.

_'Wolf... Me wolf...?'_

He wasn't sure if he should be happy at the thought of being a part of Shadow, or if he should be upset that he's no longer a full-brother to his younger brothers. All he does know, is that he's different, neither a normal-turtle or a humanoid-turtle, and was going to have to live with that knowledge and feeling for the rest of his life as a humanoid-wolf/turtle. He was too distracted on keeping his gaze on the puddle below him, that he didn't realize a presence of another being standing about a yard or two away from where he sat.

" **Musuko** (son)?" Immediately, the blue-eyed turtle lifted his head up, his eyes widening in mere shock when his hearing caught the sound of a voice. He slowly turned his gaze from the other side of the tunnel to see what just spoke to him... Or should we say,  _who_  spoke to him. When his eyes was locked on to the being that stood more than a yard away from him, was none other than the humanoid-rat who the turtle had helped soothed its distress cry from the bad dreams he had, wearing one of those weird-looking cloth made of sheep's wool that covers most of his body from the neck down. The boy thought it was large when it was laying down, but seeing it standing at its full height, it became like a giant humanoid-rat to the child, which made him feel afraid that the rat can easily hurt him if given the chance.

_**Keep distance. Unknown if friend or foe. Don't let guard down.** _

When the rat took a step forward, the child instantly got on all four and took a few steps back, shivering from both the cold of the rain-water still pouring down from the drain and fear that the giant-rat was going to hurt him, along with the possibility it also harmed his brothers already and came looking for him to do what it did to his brothers. When the child had taken a few steps away from the creature, the rat took half a step back and slowly got down on one knee, still having its form being able to tower over the child but no longer at its full height to scare the child any more than he already was.

"Do not be afraid, my boy." It said to the turtle, who stayed still where he stood on all four and slowly backing away a little more from the large-creature, preparing himself to run the moment the large-rat makes another move on wanting to attack him. "I won't hurt you... I would  _never_  harm you,  **Musuko**." Hearing that weird-word for the second time and not truly understanding what it meant, the boy cocked his head in confusion.

_'"Moosko?"... What Moosko?'_

The large-rat then scooted a bit closer to the boy, though it remained sitting on his knees and stopped scooting up when it saw how the turtle's eyes were widen in fear and slowly backed away from the creature to keep them apart. Its Reddish-Brown eyes held relief and worry within their gaze, and then would shift to sadness the more the child would try to keep his distance from the creature and then, as if to scare him off or warn him away, would hiss at him.

"You have nothing to fear of me," it spoke again. "For I am not a threat, nor do I wish to be a threat to you." Deep-blue eyes narrowed in confusion to what the creature just said, though he knew that he heard that voice from somewhere but can't remember where at the moment.

_'Voice... Know voice... Where heard voice…? Trust voice?'_

The large-creature can tell that the infant still doesn't seem to trust it and wasn't clearly understanding to what it was saying to him but seems to recognized its voice, so it tried a new tactic on gaining his trust.

"Little One," it started out gently and slowly. "I do not know if you can understand me or if you remember anything from your past life as a normal-turtle, but I was the human that took you and your brothers from the pet store when I sensed you four would help me get over my depression from my own past life that took away my loved ones, back when I still lived in Japan." It then smiled at the infant, recalling that day as if it were yesterday. "When I took you four out of the pet store, you hid inside of your shell in fear that I would harm you when I started to pet you, but then would snap your beak at my fingers when you saw me petting your brothers and hissed at me to leave you and your brothers alone."

The Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes ceased their narrow glance at the rat, meaning that the boy was starting to see the rat to not be a threat but still confused on what it was saying to him.

"When I ran into a man after getting you and your brothers, I felt something off about him and decided to follow, only to had gave myself away when I accidentally stepped on a rat's tail and forced it to squeak in pain." Blue-eyes then widen a bit from what it was saying to him, forcing the infant to once again relive that very day that had changed his life, but the rat continued on its story. "I was soon surrounded by four people, who all wanted to keep me quiet in fear that I would tell anybody to what I saw, but I had fought and defeated all four of them, while at the same time protecting you and your brothers if any of them tried to grab you four and most likely harm you... After I had taken down the last man, he released his hold on a canister that he was supposed to pass on to one of his colleague when I had punched him in the face, which then landed on top of me and released its substance all around us."

Tears formed in its Reddish-Brown eyes, now making the turtle have the hurt feeling back in his heart and making him feel uncomfortable at seeing the rat upset, again.

"I didn't mean to release my hold on the bowl that kept you and your brothers in, but the substance felt like it was burning me alive and I couldn't stand the feeling of pain it had coursed throughout my body. I could not remember what happened during those seconds, except for the fact that my body was changing me and when the burning pain had finally subsided, I found myself no longer human and had been turned into the humanoid-rat you now see before your eyes." Tears finally streamed down its face, but were changed into tears of joy as its Reddish-Brown eyes stared into the boy's deep-blue eyes. "I Never thought that I would get the chance to see your eyes open,  **Musuko**... I was worried you would never be able to open your eyes, let alone be able to pull through from the substance that had changed you and your brothers nearly over eight months ago." It then leaned in forward a bit towards the turtle, though remained kneeling where it sat, and then held its forearms out. "I know this may all seem very confusing to you and no doubt that you're having a difficult decision if you can trust me or not, but know this: I will  _never_ , in my entire life, would do anything to harm you or make you fear me... For I am your  **Otousan** , your father, and you are my  **Musuko** , my son."

The turtle's heart was relieved of some pain that was inflicted on from the sad-look on the creature's face, though a few of those aches still lingers on inside of his small-chest and his curiosity grew when his mind registered what the large-creature just called him.

_'"Sun"?... Not Sun... Me not Sun... Can't stay in sky or warm day 'til dark.'_

If he only knew how to talk or ask the large-rat what it meant, no doubt that both of their questions would be answered and the boy would be able to trust the rat that it won't harm him.

_Not 'Sun', as in glowing-warmth in the day. 'Son', as in his own offspring, his young... His child._

That was something the boy never thought his conscience would say to him, though it did made better sense to what the rat meant when it, or  _he_ , called him his 'son'. It would also explain to why he and his brothers carried the creature's scent and to why  _he_  was sleeping with the turtles instead of harming or eating them. However, there was one thing that was bothering the back of the boy's mind.

 _'He, my father?... Me, his young?...'_  The infant may not know many things and understood only a few words from his instincts and conscience, but he can definitely see a flaw to what the rat claiming to be his father, since he was a rat and the boy is a turtle.  _'Different... Not same... How he father?... How me his?'_

Then, as if someone heard his question and decided to give him a hint, he felt his hand sting when he lifted it off of the puddle underneath the rain-water, making him wince a bit from the familiar sting-feeling when he had gotten cuts from trying to walk up the steps back at the rat's den. When he held his right-hand towards his face to stare at the palm, he saw the red-liquid flowing out of the cut, merging with the puddle underneath him and being washed away to where the water takes it. Out of curiosity, he leaned in towards his hand and sniffed at the red-liquid, smelling the scent of iron... And, after taking in a few more sniffs, he could also smell another scent that he was already familiar with: Human.

_**Blood... Carry blood of large-creature. Carry scent and blood of rat before us...** _

_ You carry both his scent and blood... He your father, and you his young... His son. _

Blue-eyes widen at the shocking discovery he just made and, after placing his hand back down into the puddle and staring back at the large-creature waiting patiently for him to come to him, he knew. both instantly and instinctively, that the rat doesn't have to gain his trust anymore; he already earned the boy's trust, for being his caregiver and his father.

_**He Alpha: He leader of Pack, who soon trains you, who makes you from Pup to Fighter... He who prepares you to freedom.** _

_He is your father: He family, who cares and protects you and your brothers, who will be there when you need him... He who shall always love you._

With both his instinct and conscience in an agreement of who the humanoid-rat is and knowing that he's needed with his family, his  _Pack_ , for the time being until he was strong enough to leave them, the boy slowly and quietly, on all-four, made his way towards the rat.

The rat smiled when he saw his son finally coming over to him, who then sat in front of him and patiently waited to hear or see what his father wanted him to do or what he, himself, wanted to do. Holding in his urge to scoop the turtle into his arms and keeping him within the protective hold of his arms, fearing that it would most likely scare the small-infant on thinking he was going to harm him, the large-creature slowly reached his hands out towards his son and, after keeping a gentle but firm grip on his little-body, pulled him agains his fur-covered chest. Tears of relief streamed down his face, as he gently nuzzled his son's head and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead.

" **Musuko** , my son, thank you for coming back to me." He whispered to the child, slightly tightening his hold on his little one, still having the feeling of fear in his heart when he had woken up from an odd feeling that something wasn't right and found only three of his sons sleeping beside him, instead of four. "I was worried that somebody from my dark past has came to our home and has taken you away from me... Just as he had taken my wife and daughter away from me, who both would've been your mother and sister if they were still alive on this very day."

The aching feeling in his heart came back, making the child wince in pain from hearing the sadness in his father's voice and hearing the sad-beating tone in his own heart.

_Comfort him. He must remember you there for him, not alone._

Knowing that his conscience is right on how he has to cheer up his father, the boy slightly scooted up in the rat's arms and nuzzled his little-face into the black-fur of the rat's neck, gently patting and stroking the long-fur that tickles on his skin and letting out warmth he didn't realize that he needed from how cold he finally noticed he was. The rat smiled from the feeling of his son trying to cheer him up, along with the soft stroke to the neck he faintly remembers that had freed him from his nightmare of the night he lost his first family in Japan.

"You were there for me when I was hurting from the nightmare I was having, weren't you?" He asked his child, though knowing that he won't be getting an answer out of his child. He then slowly got to his feet, which startled the boy when he found himself higher above the ground and hid his face back into the fur of the rat's neck, which is also a sign and gestured of showing his submission to his father, placed his four-fingered right-hand on the back of his son's head while keeping his left-hand on the back of his shell, and slowly made his way towards the direction where his three remaining sons are still peacefully sleeping on their sleep-spot, back to their home. "There's nothing to be afraid of,  **Musuko**. As long as you are within my grasp, I shall not let anything or anyone, not even the person who I once called my friend and brother, harm you or take you away from me and your brothers... Just as you were there for me, I shall be there for you... Leonardo." Lifting his head to the new word, the small-boy stared up in confusion at what his father just said. "Given time, you will learn and understand the name I have given to you,  **Watashi no musuko**  (my son). In time, you'll soon be able to embrace your given name, Leonardo."

 _'Lee... Lee-in-are-doe?'_ He knew on the way he tried to say his name didn't sound right on how his father pronounced it, but it was the closest way of his own way pronouncing the name his father displayed on him... However, it seems that his instinct and conscience knew how to say it correctly.

_You be able to say it right... You be able to call yourself, 'Leonardo'._

**_Pup, now has given name. Now known as 'Leonardo'._ **

As his father continued on taking calming steps towards the direction of their home, their  _den_ , while keeping a gentle but firm grip on his child that's slowly starts to fall back to sleep in the comforting hold of the rat's arm, a few things came to thought in his little-mind, words he would never forget for as long as he lives and a secret he must never let his family, his  _Pack_ , know of unless he has no choice if they do find out.

_'Lee... Leonardo... Me, Leonardo... Leonardo, no human... No turtle... No wolf... Leonardo, humanoid-wolf/turtle.'_  
**End of Flashback...**

* * *

_I'm not sure how long I can keep this secret from them, and I can already tell they're noticing my strange behavior. Mikey thinks that I'm going through some sort of phase from becoming a teenager to a pre-adult, like the people in his favorite comic books do, even though we're all the same age and are born as quadruplets. Donnie thinks I caught something funny, but after five physical checkups and three tests for any signs of illnesses, Don came to a conclusion that I'm just simply stressed out and should take it easy every once in a while. Raph, as usual, thinks that I'm trying to be like Captain Ryan, a favorite character of mine from my favorite show 'Space Heroes', and decides to tease me whenever he thinks I'm trying to be Captain Ryan, whether the show's on or when we're not watching TV at all._

_As for Master Splinter... I can tell that he seems a bit concern and worry from the way I act differently than my brothers do, that I think he's beginning to see me as some sort of stranger that replaced his actual Leonardo. I also think he can smell the wolf inside of me, from the way he keeps on sniffing in the air and then would stare at me for a full five-seconds, which would make me feel very uncomfortable and wishing that I was back in my room to hide from his gaze._

_The reason why I behave differently for the last two years, is not only because that I'm the oldest of my brothers, but my instincts are kicking in and are having me to believe that I need to be responsible for my family's safety. I trained longer and harder than my brothers, so that Sensei will know I'll be able to protect them if we were ambushed or being attacked by an unknown enemy. On the bright side, because only the inside of me is wolf, it also means that my five senses are twice, maybe even three times, stronger and sharper than my brothers and they seem to match up to Master Splinter's senses, possibly even a bit better than his own. The down part, whenever Raph picks a fight with me and whenever I beat him, his continuous efforts to keep challenging me until he wins would make the wolf inside of me want to force him into submission and is willing to do whatever means necessary to get him to submit... Well, almost whatever means necessary, which is a major relief for me; if the wolf-side of me wanted me to go as far as to seriously injure Raph to have him near death, I'd rather injure and beat myself until I'm the one at death's door instead of living for the rest of my life with the guilt that I killed my brother and destroyed my family once they figured out why I did it._

_Sadly, that isn't my only problem I have at the moment... Lately, my instincts have been driving me crazy lately: Whenever there was a problem or there's something that has caught my attention, I would have this weird voice in my head, telling me what to do... And lately, as long as I could remember the moment I'd opened my eyes, it's been telling me to leave... And when I mean 'leave', I mean leave my family, my home, and go off on my own... Which I almost did so many times ever since I turned seven years old._

_The first time I attempted to leave them, I actually almost did it. After waiting for everybody to be deep in their sleeps in their own rooms, which I've waited until it was about two in the morning, I quietly got out of my room and silently made my way towards the entrance/exit of our home. The moment I was outside of the Lair, my heart was pounding with mere excitement and my legs were shaking with anticipation. I smile with the thoughts on where should I go and what should I do once I would be as far away from home and that's when I took off down the train-tracks on all-four. Despite Splinter having me to stop running on all-four and getting me to walk on just my feet like a '_ **_normal_ ** _person' would do when I was still a toddler, I never stop doing what I love to do and what I'm good that, which is acting how I fit and see as_ **_normal_ ** _to me._

**_Yes... Freedom... Keep moving forward, and claim your freedom!_ **

_I was going to listen to my instincts that time. I was going to ignore whatever my conscience was going to tell me and continue on with my plan._

_No!... Too soon! Go back! Your family needs you and you need them! Turn back!_

_By the time I've reached the ladder that leads to a manhole cover, I felt goosebumps running down my arms with excitement and when I grasped on one of the poles of the ladder, I knew that I would soon be getting my freedom and all I need to do his climb to the very top._

_You must stop! This isn't right, and you know that! Please, go back to the Lair and pretend this never happened!_

**_No, don't stop! Keep going! You're ready for this; Alpha has trained you to fight and survive, even allowed you to venture out in the sewers on your own! You're ready to leave Pack! They'll get over your departure and move on! Keep climbing!_ **

_I made my climb up the ladder, my mind thinking and wondering what we should do the very moment we get up there, while my heart thumped in a fast rhythm of mere excitement that I'm finally going to do something for me and not my pack. I knew that once I get up to the surface, there was no going back and I wouldn't have it any other way. Just as I placed my hand on the manhole cover, I suddenly froze still... I wasn't sure what it was that stopped me, but the very moment I placed my hand on the manhole cover, my excitement and relief instantly vanished and were replaced with confusion and regret._

_You can't go! You have no idea what's up there, you don't know what to expect once you get to the surface and you're still a child! You have to stay down, learn about the world above the sewers from Father, then you'll be ready to leave._

_Even at the young age of seven, I knew that what my conscience was telling me was both the truth and a lie. It was right when it told me that I wasn't ready and still needed time, but it also lied to me that I'll be ready to leave once I learned what about the world above my Den, the Lair, from Sensei. But even when I knew that it was preventing me from leaving, I had to face facts that it was right and, reluctantly, so did my instincts._

**_Head back to Den. Pack mustn't know what you almost did. Remain with Pack, learn more from Alpha, then leave when you are older and stronger._ **

_Letting out a breath of regret and staring up at the manhole cover above me for the last time, I quietly and slowly climbed down the ladder, ran back to the Lair on all-four, then_ _instantly made a beeline for my room after making sure by my hearing and smell that my Pack, my family, are still asleep and within their rooms... I still remember that feeling when I almost left the sewers, it was something that I've been wanting to feel for so long and wished to forever have that feeling be with me. However, if my instincts tells me that it isn't time, even if my conscience was the cause to have it change its mind, then it isn't the right time and my instincts had never let me down or lead me astray without reason. While as for my conscience, it always seem to know of the downfall or pour choice of decision my instincts would make and would come up with another suggestion that would either be safe for me to do, or to at least have my instincts get second thoughts of what I should do and would either agree with my conscience or come up with another idea that would be better than its last suggestion._

_I just really wish that they would **both**  tell me when I can finally get out of here and leave this place behind; exploring the sewers had helped me burn off some energy and allowed me to be myself as I pleased, which includes running on all-four, letting out howls as loud as I can let out and to finally have my alone time all to myself. Unfortunately, it still wasn't enough and it'll never be enough if I'm going just through the same tunnels and sewers over and over again. And eventually, my alone time can easily be stripped away from me if my brothers were to follow me or pest me to have them come with me to explore the underground parts of New York City. Master Splinter has already taken away most of my free time I used to have in midday by having me join him in the extra-training and Meditation Sessions, I don't want him to take away my free time that I have on the weekends and force me to spend time with him and/or my brothers. Basically, Saturdays and Sundays, after morning Training Sessions, are the only days I have for myself and I'll be damned if he takes away whatever last chance of freedom and happiness I have down here!_

* * *

"Yo, Leo!" Michelangelo's voice cries out from the other side of Leo's bedroom door, gaining the older turtle's attention from writing any more of his thoughts into his journal. "Master Splinter wants us all in the Dojo to train." Leo let out a quiet sigh, happy and grateful that he has locked his bedroom-door so that his brothers would stop barging in when he was doing something, which has been sleeping, listening to music, drawing inside his sketchbook or writing in his journal.

"Kay, I'll be there in a sec." He informed his youngest brother through the door, who accepted the answer and has most likely walked away from the door when the oldest turtle heard his footsteps heading towards the living room. After hearing his brother leaving the room, Leo went back into writing into his journal before he would close it for the day and out to the Dojo.

* * *

_I keep asking myself, 'Why should I leave them?'... Better yet, 'Why haven't I left them already?', because lately, I've seen and thought of many reason to why I should leave them. Even though that we four have been born as quadruplets, I need my own space and time on being alone and away from my pack. Not only that, I've never truly bonded with my brothers on what we, all_ **_four_ ** _of us, would like to do together and simply pretended that I've enjoyed the activities they like to do._

_Mikey has a lot of hobbies and things he likes to do: Read comic books that he would find in the sewers, dance to whatever song he likes that plays on his boombox, draw heroes or all of us, cook (even though we've been eating Worms and Algae for the past thirteen years), pulling pranks on us (Especially Raph, even when he would end up getting pummeled in the end) and collecting whatever stuff he finds valuable._

_Donnie, his hobbies are mostly to invent whatever he thinks would be useful to us and what he thinks would be cool to make, or to fix and repair whatever item gets broken (mostly caused by Raph and Mikey). He also likes to conduct experiments, read books and showing off any kind of gadget he made for us to see and adore him (which at times doesn't really work on Raph and/or Mikey, considering they would end up breaking his new ideas or just leave his technologies alone when they seem boring)._

_The things Raph likes to do are simple: Beating up the dummy Master Splinter set up for us, picking on us because he's 'the strongest turtle' of the group, trying to get me to argue with him for nonsense reasons and spending some time with his pet turtle, Spike, who I've found a few years ago in the sewers. I figured somebody decided to flush him down for the fun of it and thinking that Raph needs a friend who he can talk to, without acting like a big softie and able to keep his "tough guy" ego, I've given him Spike to have as his own companion._

_Sensei enjoys meditating in silence (which half of the time isn't possible for him to get, because of my brothers making noises when they play), training all five of us as ninjas and having us all spending time together, as a_ **_family_ ** _._

_As for me... I've always enjoyed art (mostly been doing drawing, since I would rarely find any paint that survived being thrown into the sewer waters), writing poetry, playing an instrument, sing (or in other cases, howl) to music, and go off into the sewers to explore any new areas I've never been to or to look for any items that would be useful to my pack._

_Unfortunately, none of my hobbies or ideas for fun never truly satisfy my brothers' interests and we would always end up playing childish games that either Sensei would suggest we play or a game my three brothers would agree to: Hide-n-seek, Tag (sometimes it would be Ninja-Tag), Leapfrog, Dodgeball (or Ninja-Dodgeball), Follow the Leader and a bunch of other childish games. They were just too easy for me and a waste of my time, that even both my instincts and conscience can agree to that (even though my conscience would tell me that I should try to enjoy whatever moments I have with my brothers, even when I'm not enjoying their choice of activity)._

_As for my bond with Sensei, it isn't all as it seems; the only way that I get to spend time with Master Splinter is by training, so I basically did the extra training and Meditation Sessions with him to spend time with him like_ **_he_ ** _always wanted to do, not because_ **_I_ ** _enjoyed or wanted to do it, myself... I guess when he saw me mimicking one of his Katas he's shown us at the age of four, he suggested that I should do extra training sessions with him and have me start meditating at an early age, stating that he sees a lot of potential inside of me that tells him I'm ready to advance at a higher level than my brothers... And I_ **_hated_ ** _him for that._

_Yes, I do love him and my brothers, and yes, I know that Sensei's doing this because he wants us to be prepare for the unexpected to come to us when we get older, but it's because of his 'suggestion' that I should do extra training and do meditation sessions with him, that Raph came to believe that I'm trying to be Sensei's favorite and is making it hard for me to try and bond with him even more than usual..._

_Maybe, it's about time that I should be planning on my escape, and this time, I'm gonna be sure that nothing is gonna be holding me back, especially if my family try to stop me from reaching my goal... I don't even care if I would have to make Sensei disown me in order for me to leave the pack, as long as I get my freedom and live the life I choose to have. Only then shall I truly be happy, and will continue on protecting/watching over them. I may want my freedom, but a wolf never betray or leave his pack unprotected, and I still made a vow and pledge that I shall protect my pack, my_ **_family_ ** _... Even at the cost of my very life, I shall be there for them and will willingly put myself between them and to any signs of threat/danger that tries to come near them!_

* * *

"Leo, come on! Sensei's getting impatient on having to wait on you!" Letting out a groan of annoyance from Raph's yelling from outside of the door, wincing from the headache forming in his head because of his brother's choice of volume for his voice, before he decided to end his journal writing for now. Not waiting for a reply back and knowing that he was going to come out, Leo listens to his footsteps leaving his door, heading for the direction of the Dojo that their training has always been placed in.

"Happy Mutation Day to you, too, Raph." Leo murmured to himself, getting off his bed and onto his feet, as he made a quick grab for his two Katanas, Musashi and Kamiizumi*, placed them inside their sheaths and made his way out of his room. "And another day of going through Hell, for me."

**TBC**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who're wondering how Leo, even as an infant, to know what words to think of, just know that the mutagen gave the turtles enough intelligence to have them think up the words and to understand some of their meanings, but not enough to have them speak the words until they learn how to pronounce them from Splinter. I just made up the date, which by the way is going to be their birth (or mutation; can't find an original birthdate for them for 2012 Universe). And we all know that Leonardo's Katanas are originally called 'Ninjatō', though I don't know why they still call them Katanas.
> 
> As for the flashback when he was eight months old, he doesn't know his name until after Splinter called him Leonardo (which is why I kept referring to him as 'the boy', 'turtle', 'child', etc...), he didn't know Yoshi was turned into a rat after he told the boy of the very day that changed their lives (that's why he was referred to as 'rat', 'large-creature', etc...) or that he was his father until he compared the scent of his blood to the scent Splinter's fur carry.
> 
> *: In TMNT IDW, Leonardo has named his Katanas: Musashi and Kamiizumi, and that's what they shall be called in the story (not sure if his brothers also named their weapons).
> 
> PS: There won't be any Leorai (I think that's the couple name for Leonardo X Karai) Apritello (I need to look up if that's their couple name or not), and especially NO T-CEST. And yes, in my story, the turtles are Splinter's children (I don't believe in what the wiki say about the turtles being adoptive; they became humanoid-turtles when Yoshi was the last living-being that made contact with them, like the rat was the last living-being made contact with him, automatically making them his biological-sons by his DNA [and makes them half-brothers to Karai/Miwa]).
> 
> Okay? Okay. I hope there are at least some of you out there who will enjoy this story.
> 
> R&R


	2. What the Heart Desires Most

After their evening training has finally ended, which ended up with Raphael being the victor (on account that Leo had allowed his brother to bring him down and win the fight) and his gloating giving him a good painful pinch in the neck by their Sensei, it was time for dinner, which is the same meal they've been having since Splinter could no longer steal food at the old grocery store when they were turning two: Algae and Worms. There are a lot of them in the sewers, practically growing within the sewers and near their Lair, which means there was no worries on how to find them if they ever ran out of the worms and algae they would save up inside their fridge and because there are a lot of worms in the sewers, along with their being a pool full of algae and worms inside of Donatello's Lab he would use for his experiments, the small family can eat as much worms and algae as they can... Which they reluctantly have no choice but to do so.

While Mikey was busy doing something with the remaining worms and algae that he has in the pot, the rest of the turtles and Splinter went into eating their share of worms and algae... Well, all except for Leo, again.

Though he has a plate full of algae and worms crawling out of the green-substance, he hardly has that much of an appetite that his brothers and Sensei have: Raph literally has an iron stomach, which means he could eat as much as he sets his mind on it. Donnie, though a bit slim but nowhere slim as Leo, could eat meals that can be two or three times bigger than the plate itself. Splinter, who can fast all day and still act like he isn't hungry, eats as if he hasn't eaten in days and won't gain a single pound from the food. Lastly, Mikey... He was an enigma; not only can he eat a lot, but he can eat anything… Literally, anything. While Raph has the iron stomach on how much he can eat, Mikey has an iron appetite to eat whatever other people would serve him to eat, even when he's been eaten worms and algae most of his life.

While the family digs in to their food, Leo simply stared down at the little creatures that are supposed to be inside his stomach and get digested already.

_**Swamp Moss and Earth Diggers... Again?! Not worth to be meal! Leave, hide in turf. Wait for dawn, to hunt real prey from tunnels.** _

Unfortunately, his stomach has something it wants to say and let out a growl that demands Leo to feed it, even if it means having to eat something that disgusted him for so long.

_Just eat the Worms and Algae already; You've hardly eaten anything for days now and your body's getting thinner, meaning it's getting weaker and easier for brothers to take you down while training. Push back your pride and eat._

And to prove his conscience's point, his stomach let out another growl, which was more of a big roar, which this time gained his brothers and father's attention from them eating their dinner.

_'Seriously, Leo!? You're not gonna eat, **again**!?'_ The red-bandana turtle yelled in his thoughts, glaring at his brother who sat on the right-side beside him, barely moving his chopsticks that he held in his right-hand that he was supposed to use to catch his dinner.

"Leonardo, a true warrior takes care of his body by finding whatever he can to fuel his strength and spirit, even if it's something that he doesn't want to eat. He does not neglect his health by forcing himself to starve." Splinter offered his Words of Wisdom to his eldest son, as he went back into eating the worms in front of him on his plate, though his face tells his sons of their father's dissatisfaction on eating the wriggling creatures. In response, Leonardo simply shook his head.

"I'm not hungry, Sensei." He told his sensei in a tired voice, as he stared down at his meal and lightly poked at the small-mountain of algae in front of him. While Mikey went back to whatever he's doing, though with a sad expression on his face on hearing his big brother refusing to eat, Donnie decided to try and get his brother to eat, since it was clear that Splinter's Words of Wisdom wasn't going to break through and convince him to eat, by using logic.

"Leo, it's been three days since you've eaten anything and your stomach's begging for food. You need to eat something or you'll make yourself sick, and to be honest, it growls much louder than Mikey's own stomach." He informed the older turtle, who rested his head in his left-hand and keep his gaze at the algae and worms, showing that he still won't eat. Raph would've snapped at this very moment and would've more likely to force-feed his brother, but then Mikey intervened.

"Well, if you aren't hungry for Worms and Algae, Leo, then perhaps you'll be hungry for..." He then pulled out something he had behind his back and then placed it on the center of the table. "This!" Donnie and Raph stood up out of their chairs and stare in amazement at what Mikey brought out before them, while Leo barely budged at all or registered to what his baby brother brought up.

"It's a cake!" Donnie stated, astounded by the sight before them. Raph, who got over his stunned moment, touched the makeshift cake and licked it.

"Made of... Algae." He and Donnie then saw a worm crawl out of the algae and making its away across the surface, looking for another spot to borrow itself into. "And... Worms." Letting out a deep sigh, Leo finally turned his gaze towards the makeshift cake, not looking in the least bit satisfied or interested on what Mikey to the remaining Worms and Algae.

"Mikey, what's the frosting made out of?" He sighed out his question, even when he knew what Mikey put on the cake, thanks to his strong sense of smell.

"You don't wanna know," the youngest answered his big brother. He then put on one of his biggest sunshine smiles and raised his makeshift cake in the air. "Happy Mutation Day!"

"Happy Mutation Day!" Raph and Donnie hollered back, also putting on one of their own cheerful smiles that they're finally going to be a year older than they are at that very moment. As usual, Leo simply stayed quiet and stared down at his plate of Worms and Algae.

"Ah, yes." Splinter said, also happy on having another year and birthday celebration with his four sons. "Fifteen years ago today, our lives changed forever and we became the unlikeliest of families."

At his words, the eldest son nearly scoffed at what his sensei just said to them, knowing that them being a family was caused by an accident that shouldn't had happened in the first place.

"Tell us the story, Master Splinter." Mikey asked his Sensei, who always love to hear on how they were lucky to have been taken in and raised by the fifty year-old humanoid-rat.

"Michelangelo, I have already told it many times." Splinter chuckled in amusement, along with being a little bit surprised that still, to this very day, his youngest son would still ask their Sensei to tell them on how they became a family.

"Please! Pleeeease!" Before Leo could get the chance to get up from behind Mikey and making him cease his attempt on making their father telling them the same tale of their unfortunate lives changing, it was Raph who got up from his seat and placing a hand over his baby brother's mouth to keep him quiet.

"Please. It's the only way to shut Mikey up."

"Ah, very well. Many years ago, when I was still human..." Shaking his head from the way Splinter agreed to tell them the story, again, Leo tuned them out and simply stared down at his meal.

_'Another year older, and another day of being stuck down here. How is that not surprising?'_  He thought to himself, not paying attention to the story Master Splinter is telling his sons on the very day that changed their lives fifteen years ago. He then noticed that while he gotten to the part where he was fighting off the four strange men, that the humanoid-rat has brought out the exact canister that made them into what they are to this very day.  _'And he still has that canister... Why does he even bother having that despicable garbage which caused us to become this?'_

"That was the beginning of our life together." Splinter wrapped up to the end of his story, holding out one of the few things that the eldest turtle completely despise with all of his hate. "It was the mysterious substance in this canister that, in a way, gave birth to us all."

"Mom..." Mikey sighed happily, hugging the canister as if it were an actual living being and probably imagining the canister to be what he believed his 'mother' would be like if she was with them, though it was hard to tell which 'mother' Michelangelo was referring to: His actual turtle-mother, who had laid her eggs in order for the four boys to exist fifteen years ago, or... Tang Shen, Splinter's deceased wife, who perished in the fire back in Japan from Hamato Yoshi's greatest enemy, Oroku Saki.

Raph and Donnie, after staring at their baby brother with a look that tells them they were a bit disturbed and a little awkward of Mikey calling the canister their 'mom' and hugging it as if it really was a person, both turned to their big brother, who has gone quiet and still refuse to eat his food.

"Ahem," the red-bandana grabbed the blue-bandana turtle's attention by making a sound as if he was actually clearing his throat. "Leo, isn't there something you wanted to ask Sensei about? Something important?" Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes narrowed in annoyance to his younger brother for wanting him to ask their sensei what they've always wanted to do ever since they were children, which had always ended up with the same answer.

_'Why bother asking him the same question, when he's just going to give us the same answer that he's been giving to us for a little over a decade?'_

_ It doesn't hurt to keep trying. Who knows? Perhaps this will be the day he'll actually let you four go up to the surface. _

**Alpha will most likely refuse... However, if not for Pup, ask Alpha permission to go to surface for Kins.**

Letting out a sigh and putting down his chopsticks, Leo turned to stare at their sensei, even though he refers to keep his gaze on the floor or anywhere else to avoid making eye-contact with Master Splinter.

"Sensei, now that we're fifteen, I think we're finally ready to go up to the surface, don't you?" At that, his three brothers also turned to stare at their father with smiles on their faces, hoping that this would be the very day to explore the world from above their home.

"Yes." To what the humanoid-rat just said, Raph, Donnie and Mikey cheered and were excited that he just said the one answer they've been waiting for so long. Leo, on the other hand, knew what wasn't the actual answer his brothers thought it would be.

_'Wait until he finishes, you guys.'_  He thought to himself, knowing what's going to happen and what else Splinter was going to tell them. He then stood from his seat and went to grab his family's dinner plates, dumping out the Algae and Worms in their garbage cans and wash the dishes in their sink.

"And no." Just as Leo had thought, he hid a smirk when he heard his brothers' excitement instantly go into disappointment and all three of them bowed their heads to express their disappointment.

"Oh, man, come on."

"Lame."

"I hate when he does that."

**Kins too easy to deceive, practically believe whatever Alpha say to Kins.**

_'Now that, I totally agree to.'_  Leo thought to himself, as he quietly made his way back to his seat and listen to what kind of excuse his Sensei has his reason for telling them such false hope.

"You have grown powerful, but you are still young. You lack the maturity to use your skills wisely."

"So, Sensei, isn't that just 'no'?" Donnie asked, feeling as if their father was going to try and trick them into believing they'll finally go up to the surface, but only to learn, once again, that he'll keep them below the surface.

_Donatello's wise enough to understand what Father's meant in his excuse, though he doesn't seem to get what Father is trying to say to all of you._

"Yes... And no." Splinter answered, making Donnie and Mikey confused on what he's trying to say to them if they could go up to the surface or not, while Raph let out another groan from the same answer they've just gotten and Leo simply stayed quiet. "Wisdom comes from experience. And experience comes from making mistakes."

"Aha!" Leo let out a silent sigh of annoyance from his second brother thinking he just figured out what their Sensei meant so quickly, when he really knew that it's not going to be what Splinter just said to them. "So in order for us to gain the wisdom, we have to make the mistakes." Donnie then smiled to what he believed to be in the meaning of Splinter's words. "So we can go."

"No." It was a bit too quick for Splinter to answer his intelligent son, which the eldest turtle knew was going to be his answer on Don's discovery and on them having to go up to the surface or not.

_'There it is, the actual answer to what Master Splinter means; trying to stall us a while longer to remain within the sewers.'_  Leo thought to himself.

"And yes?" Donnie asked, smiling and thinking that it was going to be one of those 'yes and no' answers that would tell him that he was at least be half-right to what their father's words meant.

"No!" The smile on Don's face instantly went away, feeling a bit down that his knowledge didn't help him on figuring out if they can go above ground or not.

"Oh...!" He groaned out, frustrated that it was obvious to him that they weren't going to go up.

**Omega-Brother Donatello isn't knowledgable all the time or know everything: Does not understand everything Alpha means to what Alpha speaks about unless Alpha becomes more specific, cannot figure out why Omega-Brother Michelangelo prank or pests Pack when nobody's around to interact, does not know why Beta-Brother Raphael always has to show dominance and bully Kins... Does not even know answer to why Pup's different than rest of Pack, for last fifteen years believe Pup to be humanoid-turtle and not humanoid-wolf/turtle.**

He then took quick glances at Mikey and Raph, who also had their heads down in dissatisfaction that their Sensei won't be allowing them to go up the surface. Although he was also upset that their sensei won't let them go, the eldest turtle actually prefers to stay down within the sewers instead of going up to explore the Human World above them, with his brothers he knows that he'll have to watch over and get them out of trouble if they were to cause any, like they would always do.

_'I'd rather be caged or chained to my bedroom, than to take responsibility over my brothers and their actions, like I've always done for them.'_

_Try speaking to him. Convince him to face facts that he'll have to let you all go up and experience the Surface World, even if he's reluctant to let you ... You may not get the actual freedom you've wanted, but at least you won't have to be stuck down here if he does let you go._

Leo almost let out a growl to express his anger to what his conscience had told him to do, but he held in that urge and, hating the feeling of his brothers sadness enveloping in the air and making his heart clench in pain, he went along with his conscience's plan.

"Sensei, we know you're trying to protect us, but we can't spend our whole lives hiding down here."

Splinter thought about what his eldest had said to him, turning his head to the side with his ears bent down a bit and stroking his long-beard, an expression showing the four turtles that he's either having second thoughts of his decision and was going to reconsider his plan on having them stay down or was thinking up a new excuse on keeping his sons down in the sewers.

_Looks like you might as well use the Trump-Card._

That time, Leo had to jerk his head up in shock to what his conscience just said to him, which they both knew that was something he would never do, even in a situation like this.

_'Okay, that's where I draw the line! There's no way I'm going to do that! Forget it!'_  He yelled in his thoughts.

_For this one time, push back your stubbornness and do the face; you know how much Father could never say 'no' when you all do the face._

_'Uh, yeah, when we were still toddlers. I doubt it's going to work on him, now that we're teenagers.'_

_It doesn't matter how old you four will be; you're all still his babies and no parent, no matter how old their children are, can ever stand to see the sad looks on their children's faces if refused to get what they want with all their hearts. Besides, Michelangelo still does the face and he can still gets what he wants because of the face._

_'That's because he's Mikey. He can get whatever he wants because he's the youngest in the family.'_

_ But even when he does the face, Michelangelo never gets Father to allow him up to the surface, does he? _

_'...No...'_

_If Michelangelo couldn't convince Father to let him up to the surface on his own, then how would you know that he'll refuse if **you**  and your brothers do the face, together?_

Leo knew that he couldn't come up with an answer for that, knowing that his conscience was right and has him trap to a decision on waiting for Splinter to stall or to use the trump card that would tip the scale on the debate. He nearly let out a groan of defeat when he had finally made his decision.

_'Just this one time, and that's it!'_  He then silently turned to his other brothers, quietly tapped on the table a couple of times to get them to stare up at him and after miming out on what they should do, all four of them swiftly kneeled in front of their sensei and all did the face that he could never refuse: The sad-puppy face, the look that they were all able to put on ever since they were toddlers whenever they wanted something Splinter would refuse to give to them. While Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo had used the face many of times, Leonardo rarely uses the face and only does the face whenever all three of his brothers are doing the face and has been told by his conscience to do the face with them. Not because he wants what his brothers wanted, but because his conscience wants him to keep whatever bond he has with his brothers to be as strong as it could get.

When Splinter noticed his four sons giving him their best sad-puppy faces and knowing that he couldn't stand to see them upset or admit that his eldest son was right on them can't always hiding from the surface forever, he finally made a decision.

"Hmm..." He let out a deep sigh, flattened his ears in regret on what he was going to tell his four sons. "You may go, tonight." Immediately as they turned off their sad-puppy faces, the three youngest brothers cheered in celebration on finally getting the answer they've been waiting to hear ever since they were children. While Leo, glad that he no longer has to use his sad-puppy face anymore, closed his eyes and put on a small smile on his face, secretly holding back tears of happiness on what he just heard his sensei tell them the news he wanted to hear for so long.

_'I hate to admit it, but you were right. Looks like the face has been able to convince Sensei to let us go.'_

_ Told you it would work. _

_**Now Alpha gave Pup permission to go above, Pup one step closer to freedom.** _

That, Leo frowned from what his instincts just told him, knowing that it was partially right but not entirely right.

_'Well... Not really anywhere close to freedom.'_ He regretfully thought to himself, as he watch his three younger-brothers getting all jittery with excitement on finally being allowed to the surface.  _'And, unfortunately, I'm gonna have to be responsible over my brothers and their safety, again, and take the blame for whatever stunt they'll pull or decision they'll make to have Sensei lecture me, again.'_

"High three!" Mikey cried out, raising his right-hand in the air for his brothers to do their usual 'high three insignia' whenever they've accomplished something or just for celebration to bring out smiles. Raph and Donnie had already placed their hands for the high three, while Leo simply shook his head and got to his feet, making his way out of the kitchen. "Yo, Leo, high three! Don't leave us hanging!"

"Too late, already am!" Leo called out, exiting the kitchen and making his way to his bedroom for some alone time before they get ready to leave. However, before he made it to his bedroom-door and had placed his hand on the door-handle, a hand on his shoulder stopped him from going inside and turned his head to see it was his sensei that prevented him from going into the comfort of his room.

"Leonardo, may I have a few moments of your time?" Leo let out of a small breath of disappointment.

_'As if you've never taken "a few moments" of my time already? Yeah, right! Like you'll actually let me have a say in this, let alone leave me if I tell you "no" or "some other time".'_

_**Don't disrespect or argue with**   **Alpha. Alpha will surely punish Pup if hears Pup say that to Alpha, and Pup knows Alpha can get into mind if Alpha so chooses to**_ **_trespass into depths of Pup's mind.  
_ **

"Can't this talk wait for another time, Sensei?" He asked, even when he knew that was going to be too much to ask from his sensei to simply let him get off from a talk he knew it was going to be about. "If it's about us going to the surface and wanting me to be sure I keep my brothers in line, you know that I'll keep them out of trouble and make sure we don't expose ourselves to the humans." He then pulled his door open and was about to walk his way out of his sensei's grasp, but the four-fingered hand held tight and stopped him from going inside.

"That isn't what I wish to speak to you about, Leonardo, and I'm afraid this talk cannot wait for another time." Knowing he wasn't going to be getting out of the conversation, again, Leo closed his bedroom door and turned himself to face his sensei, though he kept his gaze to the ground.

"Very well, Sensei." He forced out, keeping a calm-tone and face to assume he was alright but was loathing and feeling a stabbing feeling in his heart on the inside. "What is it that you wish to speak about?"  _'Is it about my continuous eating habits, that you're still trying to get me to stop? My loss to Raph, because I simply let him win in order to avoid having another argument with him and getting my headache to build up even more than it already has? Me being almost a minute late for Evening Training Sessions, because I wish to write out my emotions into my journal? Or probably have you to face the fact that we can't stay down here for the rest of our lives, and somehow forced you to let us go up?'_

_**Remember what position Pup's in of the Pack. Must listen, obey and show respect to Alpha. No exceptions, arguments or judgement.** _

_'Aren't I a little old to still be referred to as a 'Pup'?'_

**_Pup's still minor and still learning, meaning Pup's still a pup and right now, Pup must listen to Alpha._ **

It took every once of Leo's Will and inner strength to not let out a growl or let his anger get the best of him, as he kept his gaze to the floor and silently waits for his sensei to speak to him, which he finally did after two minutes of silence going on around them. He heard Splinter let out a deep sigh.

"Leonardo," he started. "Why do you refuse to look me in the eye when all I wish is to simply have a few moments of talking with my eldest son?" He received no answer from his eldest son, who still refuses to meet him eye-to-eye, another sign and gesture to show his respect and submission to his sensei. With a calm, blank face, Splinter placed a hand underneath Leo's chin and lifted his head up, though he still refused to turn his gaze to meet his sensei's Reddish-Brown eyes. " **Musuko** , will you please look me in the eye and not act like I'm going to strike you if you do meet my gaze?"

_'No, I don't want to meet your gaze.'_  He thought to himself, feeling the headache building up and his heart clenching as if someone's trying to make him suffer in his self-hatred towards himself. _'I don't want you see the anger being held through my iris', or to see you try to read me like a book... But most of all, I don't want _you_  to see my fake-eyes that you believe I've been born with but had actually been changed from that substance your 'birth-giving _ _canister' **bestowed**  upon me. Me showing my submission and not meeting your gaze, it's a reminder that I'm not who you all believe me to be and that you shouldn't trust me.'_

_**Nevertheless, Pup, Alpha still your Alpha and Pup do what Alpha tells Pup to do.** _

Finally being able to calm his beating heart and hide his anger, Leonardo slowly turned his gaze to stare into the eyes of his sensei, who smiled softly at finally being able to meet his eldest son eye-to-eye.

" **Arigatō, watashi no musuko**  (Thank you, my son)," the rat thanked his son. He then removed his hand from Leo's chin, knowing that his son won't have his eyes turn his gaze. "Now, as for my question I wish to ask you... Are you happy?" Surprised by the question, Leonardo wasn't sure what to say or how to react, except by cocking his head to the side and staring up at his sensei with a confused look on his face.

_'That's_  it?' He asked himself, his anger melting away and his headache easing the ache off of his mind, but still throbbing and making him unable to have a clearer head on what he should say. _'That's all he wants to talk to me about, if I'm happy? What sort of question is that?! Of course I'm happy!... Aren't I?'_

_That is a good question... Are you really happy, especially now that you can finally go up to the Surface World like you and your brothers always wanted? Or are you just simply saying that, because your brothers are the ones truly happy and are pretending to go along with what they're doing?_

Ignoring what his conscience said to him, Leo made up his answer.

"What do you mean by that, Sensei? Of course I'm happy," he replied. "I mean, why wouldn't I be happy?" He put on his best kind-smile, a smile that wasn't too big to be obvious that he's forcing himself to smile but just enough to hide away his displeasure on not knowing if he truly is happy or not. Though he had to play innocent and pretend that he isn't one of the best liars in the family, there does come a time where Leo would actually be able to make something up and lie about it in order to prevent his family from getting anywhere closer on noticing his estrange behavior isn't from being a moody teenager like his brothers are. And at this moment, he was making up a lie and he knows from the worry look in his sensei's eyes, he's not going to get caught on lying. He then put on his own worry-look on his face, though he mostly puts it on whenever he sees the worry or sadness on any of his family's faces, which he at times wonder if he really is worry for his family or it was just a mask that he randomly puts on whenever they were upset. "Is there something wrong, Sensei?"

At his question, Splinter simply let out a deep sigh and shook his head, a gesture and sign to Leo that there is but doesn't want to talk about it.

" **Iie**  (No), my son. I simply wanted to check up on you... You just appeared to be a bit unhappy lately: You haven't eaten in the last few days, Raphael has been able to beat you during Evening Training, and your brothers and I had noticed you've been spending much more time in your bedroom and less time with us in the Family Room most of the day."

_'Oh, really? Gosh, I haven't noticed.'_

_Don't go placing the blame on him; he's just doing what any normal parent would do: Worry about their kids and their safety. Do not make him feel as if it's his fault you're acting like this._

Leonardo quickly made up his answer.

"There's nothing to be concerned about, Sensei. I've just been drowsy from our late night Family Time and I got this headache that's been bothering me lately." It wasn't a complete lie, which means Splinter won't be sensing his chi or aura to signal the rat that he's making it up and is all in the clear to go up to the surface with his brothers. The worry in Splinter's eyes instantly decreased, though they still held a few of that worry on hearing his son being more tired than usual and about the headache getting in the way of his son's concentration during their Training Sessions.

" **Hontō** (Really)?" Splinter asked, wondering if the condition his son told him he was in would effect him on having a good time and unable to keep his brothers in line while up to the surface.

" **Hai** (Yes), Sensei, but my headache is already going away and I'm still awake enough to still go up with my brothers." Splinter knows it was wise to never underestimate his son's strength and ability to keep up with his brothers, but that wasn't what makes the rat worried about.

Whenever he allowed his sons to go explore the sewers and tunnels when they turned into their double-digit age, his three younger sons would always be together and are the ones to always return to the Lair an hour or two before five o'clock. However, whenever Leonardo goes off to explore, he would always go off by himself and return to the Lair a few minutes before Evening Training Session starts. Now that he's allowing his sons to up to the surface, on their own, and despite them most likely wanting to see everything of New York, he was more concerned about Leonardo not returning home on time with his younger brothers and something else that truly terrifies him ever since the boy was ten years old.

_'But that won't happen,'_ the rat thought to himself.  _'He hasn't tried to pull it off ever since his brothers and I caught him trying to do 'it' when he was ten. Besides, his brothers will be with him and they won't let him get the chance to pull it off. I should have nothing to fear about Leonardo doing anything funny, not while he and his brothers explore the city that sits above our home. This is, after all, what he's been wanting to do for so long... Right?'_ "If you believe you can last as long as your brothers, Leonardo, then I see no reason on preventing you from going up top." Happy to hear that his sensei won't keep him cooped up and is still allowing him to go up top, Leonardo put on his real smile on his face, a smile that he rarely puts on when he truly is feeling happy, then bowed in respect to his sensei and went to grab the door-handle to his bedroom.

"Thank you, Sensei." After saying his thanks to his sensei and without a second of hesitation, Leo went into his room and closed the door, locking it just in case one of his brothers try to barge in. He then made a quick grab for his sketchbook, which was placed beside his journal on a small desk that stood on the left-side of his bed, and quickly flipped through the pages to his recent drawing that he recently started to work on: It was a drawing of an open plain, with the field of grass being drawn with some shades of greens from some of Leo's colored-pencils, the sky in a mixture of blues and whites and the clouds having some grays into the mixture of their image. He also added in a few wildflowers into the field, a little stream in-between the first two hills from at the right-side of the paper, even a few oak trees in a couple of spots into his drawings.

He smiled at the progress of his artwork, which has been inspired from a certain dream he had a few nights ago: He found himself within the darkest-tunnels of the sewers, no lights to guide him the way out but his eyesights allowing him to see better within the darkness, thanks to his wolf-DNA within him. He was all alone and couldn't hear, nor smell out his brothers or sensei, and yet, he was okay with that and wasn't a bit scared of being alone within the darkness. Then, as if someone has found the light switch, a large flash of white-light popped up from behind the turtle, acting like a beacon to help the turtle out of the darkness. At first, he was a bit hesitate on following the light, since Splinter had told him and his brothers some stories of people who follow a bright-light at the end of a dark-tunnel always mean they're dead and are leaving Earth for their eternal rest in a new world, but the light was so beautiful to the turtle and couldn't help himself but walk towards the light. When he made it towards the light and walked into it, he was shocked to find the light has taken him out of the sewers and to a place of such beauty: Fresh plainfield of grass gently swaying with the gentle breeze from the wind, wildflowers releasing their glorious scent of nature and life, strong trees standing out tall and proud and reaching towards the light-blue sky as far as their green-leaf covered branches could reach, fresh stream water glistering its way towards the far horizon of snow-covered mountains...

A few tears of happiness came out of his Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes without warning, but he didn't bother to wipe those tears away; that dream of his was so perfect, so beautiful, so unspoiled, it was hard to find the right words to describe how he felt about that place from his heart. To him, that place was Heaven... That place was  _freedom_ , itself.

_That dream, it was so wonderful. If such a place truly exist, we should find it and once we do, we should bring the rest of the family to witness its glory and wonders._

_'Yeah... if only it truly does exist...'_ Leo thought to himself, as he finally used his left-hand to pull up his mask a bit to wipe away any more tears that were to come out of his eyes, not wanting his brothers and/or sensei to know he's been crying for something that'll seem ridiculous and idiotic to be crying over a simple dream. Luckily for the turtle, none of his tears got on to his drawing or left any tear-stains into his mask, meaning that his family won't be knowing about his little crying-moment for a dream he wished to come true but knows it'll never happen. He then heard a couple of knocks coming from his door, stopping him from drawing the wildflowers he was working on.

"Yo, Leo, you ready? It's go time!" Once again, it was Michelangelo that came to get him out of his bedroom and ready for their first time up to the surface.

_**Still not what Pup wish to get. Not true freedom, not the actual freedom Pup wants. Alpha most likely has Pup in charge to watch over Kins, while Omega-Brothers and Beta-Brother keep Pup on toes as Kins fool around the surface.** _

Leo let out a deep sigh from his instincts' words.

_'You don't have to remind me that; I already know what's going to happen,'_ he thought to himself.

"Leo, did you hear Mikey? It's time to go!" That time, it was Donatello that called out from outside of his bedroom door, who almost sound like he was going through his own Mikey-like stage.

"Yeah, I heard. I'm coming out!" The eldest turtle replied back, quickly scribbling a few words onto the bottom-left corner of his drawing before placing it back on the bed and getting to his feet. After unlocking the door, he exited his room and swiftly made his way towards the living room, with part of his mind going back to what he has written into his drawing: " _In a Dream of an Illusion..."_

* * *

"You are going up to a strange and hostile world." Splinter told his four sons, walking as if he were their general and then standing in front of them as their commanding officer. "You must maintain awareness at all times."

_**Alpha must always be firm and strict, enforcing Pups to listen to every words.** _

"Hai, Sensei!" The four turtles said in a unison, then quickly turned to make their gateway.

"Stay in the shadows." Splinter added, stopping them from running off.

**_Alpha must always remind Pups; never forget training to protect or defend themselves when not under protection of Alpha._ **

"Hai, Sensei!" The four turtles said again, getting back to their spots in respect and showing they're still listening to their sensei, before trying to make their gateway, again.

"Don't talk to strangers!" Splinter quickly added, ceasing the boys, again, from running.

_Every parent must inform their children to never talk to anybody who they don't know._

"Hai, Sensei!" For the third time they said, standing back into their spots and trying to get away from another of their father's adding lecture and warnings.

"Everyone is a stranger!" The fourth time Splinter stopped his sons from getting away, his worry as a parent making it hard for him to let them go from under his watch and not within the sewers with him.

_...Every parent has to be overreacting and remind their children of some things they already know of?_

"Hai, Sensei..." The boys groaned out, this time lazily staying put where they stood in front of the mutated-rat, before making a run towards the old-subway's turnstile. They actually thought they were going to make it out, without another lecture or warning from Splinter, until...

"Make sure you go before you leave! The restrooms up there are filthy!" The four boys halted in their steps, now feeling embarrassed and very irritated of their father holding them back from getting up to the surface.

_'Seriously... Is embarrassing your child for_ _nonsense reasons or trying to keep your pups by your side, something every parent and/or Alpha supposed to do?'_ Leo asked to himself, almost blushing from what Splinter told them on the last sentence.

_...Yep!_

_**Pretty much...** _

_'...And I thought my brothers are the only that pests me enough to get on my nerve.'_

" _ **SENSEI!**_ " The four boys called back to the rat, a way of telling him to stop worrying over them and to let them go already. Knowing that he mustn't hold them back any longer and it was time to let them have their fun, Splinter let out a deep sigh and smiled at his sons.

"Good luck, my sons." That was all they needed to hear and as fast as their legs could take them, they leap over the turnstile and cheered in excitement.

"I am so pumped!" Donatello exclaimed.

"Surface time!" Raphael cried.

"This is going to be epic!" Michelangelo hollered.

Leonardo, as usual, stayed quiet and simply described his happiness from within his mind.

_'It's finally happening... It's actually happening... There's absolutely nothing that could take away my cheerfulness!'_

_"Look both ways before crossing the street!"_  Instantly, the smile on his face went away and was replaced with a scowl, thanks to his sharp-hearing that allowed him to catch one last warning from their sensei.

_...You were saying?_

_'Spoke too soon, I guess.'_ Leo thought to himself, leading his brothers towards the direction to where the closest manhole-cover was at... Which was in fact the one, and only manhole-cover, that he tries to reach to and make his escape at, ever since he was seven.

_Don't get so down. Be happy! After fifteen years living down in the sewers, you're finally going to get your wish! You're finally going up to the surface!_

_**May be true, but this isn't type of freedom Pup wants or asked for. This not the freedom Pup crave for!** _

_'Urg, you think I don't know that? I'm also unsatisfied that this isn't how I want to gain my freedom!... Although...'_ He paused in his mind, as he and his brothers made it to the ladder and started to make his way up.  _'With all of us going up to the surface at this very moment and given time that we know more about the Surface World, I might be able to know where my brothers will be going and when I do leave the Pack, I'll know every hiding-spots for me to use when watching over them if danger were to ever come.'_

**_...Excellent and well-thought-out planned, Pup._ **

_Hate to admit it, but that is a very good idea. I doubt that even Donnie would've thought about doing that, considering that you'll all be sightseeing for a good while and get distracted by the many wonders of the Surface World._

Once he and his brothers finally made it to the manhole-cover at the top of the pole ladder, Leo's heart instantly raced in a fast rhythm.

_'Well... Here goes nothing.'_ With his hand on the cover and having to no longer feel the guilt and confusion that has always prevented him from leaving his family, Leonardo pushed the manhole-cover up.

* * *

**Now on the Surface, New York City...  
** As soon as part of the cover was lifted from its spot and but still held down a bit, Leo quickly scooped out part of the area around him, in case any humans were around that might see them coming out of the sewers. Seeing no humans around and after quietly placing the cover off to the side, he finally came out of the hole and gets to fully see what was around him and he has to say... It wasn't that very impressing: Trash littered out all over the ground and against the brick-walls, graffiti markings, old and new, completely marked up every wall he sees around him, rats running all over the place in search for food. Heck, there was even a homeless guy, sleeping on a tossed-out mattress and not knowing there are four giant, mutated-turtles standing right beside him, without a care in a world as he sleeps the night away.

_'Huh... So, this is the Surface World our Sensei used to live in fifteen years ago?'_ Leo wondered in thought, staring out to the other buildings on the other-side of the street and anywhere else that he hasn't already seen that could gain his interest, which wasn't very much. He then smirked and shook his head.  _'Not very much has changed since we were last here, fifteen years ago. I mean, even though I was two weeks old when I was still living in the Pet Store, I can still remember what the area around us were like when we were about to taken to Sensei's home before we became humanoid-animals, which looks like nothing really changed._

"It's so beautiful." Leo turned to stare at his baby brother, who doesn't seem to care that the trash are littered the ground and street or part of the buildings have been vandalism by the Graffitis.

_'Well, with Mikey being... Err, Mikey, I shouldn't really be surprised that he would think that up here is "beautiful", let alone not being able to recall his past life as a regular turtle.'_

"Well, let's go explore the city, you guys!" Raph called out, already going on ahead of the group to lead the four of them to wherever the wind takes them.

_**Beta-Brother Raphael thinks ready to lead Kins? Not ready for responsibility.** _

_'And who do you think should lead? Mikey gets too sidetracked very easily, along with having a short attention span, and Donnie will want to observe as much as he can of his new discoveries of the city, which includes to whatever kinds of electronics that he finds to be intriguing.'_ Leo thought to himself, as he brings up the rear of their small-group as he walks on the sidewalk. He then ceased his walking, when he noticed Donatello being too busy at gawking at some computers being held out for display from the inside of a store through the glass.

"Look at all the computers!" The genius turtle stated, astonished at the high-tech electronics that he wished to obtain that would make his job in the lab much more easier and look more like a lab should be as. "Is that the next generation cadmium processor, with quantum encryption?" Raphael, who stood behind his younger-brother, decided to humor his brother.

"I don't know, Donatello. Is it?" He sarcastically asked, which should be a clear sign to tell that he thinks whatever his genius-brother is so intrigued about is lame and for nerds with no spines.

"It is!" Donnie replied back, too excited to even notice Raph not taking his interest by heart or to even argue to his brother on teasing him.

"Guys, guys! Check this out." Michelangelo's voice brought the eldest and the two older turtles from their attention to the computer-shop, to where their youngest-brother stood in front of a another building that claims that a Fortune Teller works inside of it. In front of the window, was a a light formed in the shape of a human-hand. "A hand made out of light." The purple-light of the human-hand turned off, being replaced by a blue-light within the center of the hand, this time in a form of an eye. "Now it's an eye made out of light." Just like the hand, the blue-lights of the eye went off and the purple-light of the hand came back on. "And the hand again!" Then the eye came back on. "Now the eye's back!" And then the hand flashed up to life, again. "Now the hand!"

Having enough of his brother's inability to give it a rest and to get it through his mind that the hand and eye will keep flashing like that, Raph grabbed for Mikey's tail-mask and pulled him away from the window.

"Come on, genius." He told his youngest-brother, having no trouble on dragging the orange-band turtle away from the window.

"The eye!" Was all Mikey could say and once he was away from the shop of the Fortune Teller, his attention span at the lights were gone. Leonardo chuckled quietly at what came before him, shaking his head on having to be right

_'Like I said, too_ _intrigued and too distracted that has them unable to truly lead the group.'_

_...Well, what about you?_

Leo stumbled a bit to what his conscience just asked him, a bit surprised of the question being tossed to him, but staying firm on the sidewalk, while keeping an eye on his three brothers, who all stood in the middle of the street.

_'"Me"? What about me?'_

_Since you basically ruled out Donatello and_ _ Michelangelo at being leader, and since we all know Raphael's too brash and arrogant on being the best, it seems like you are the only logical choice on leading your brothers. _

Leo let out a deep sigh, then lifted his head towards the stars out in the night-sky.

_'You both know that I have no intention on being leader, especially since Master Splinter is the leader of our family and I have no means on wanting to take his place as Alpha. Besides, Raphael has always wanted to be leader for such a long time and I have no rights on taking that away from him. And who knows? Maybe he'll gain some knowledge and experience on how to lead us, while we explore the city or if we ever come across a threat.'_

"Ah!" A scream broke through his lost in thoughts, which from how Leo could guess, Raph has decided to playfully scare a human-teenager, who came to a halt when he saw three large-turtles standing in his way of the road, and made a quick drive back to where he came on his vehicle, not noticing a box that was sitting in the back of his motorcycle has fallen out from the back and now left behind on the road.

_**More like Beta-Brother going to be threat, then encountering threat.** _

Holding in a groan, the blue-masked turtle quickly made his way to his three brothers, glaring at his red-masked brother who showed to have completely enjoyed scaring the human, as if he enjoyed pretending to be a monster to the human.

"That was kinda fun." Leo nearly face palmed himself at his brother's remarks.

_'Yeah, like you always having to roughhouse or chase Mikey all over the sewers, is your way of having fun.'_ "We're too exposed out here." While keeping his hearing out for any sound that would alert him if any more human were to come out, Leo swiftly have his eyes look for anywhere that the four of them will be able to hide and not be too exposed for any humans to see them.

_**Too much lights! Find spot where lights don't brighten so!** _

_'Urge, I know that, but so far the only spots where there aren't any lights are the alleys and I doubt that the guys would want to stay hidden with places that are covered and reeks of garbage.'_ He also tried using his sense of smell to give him some sort of idea to where human-scents are to least hang out at, but because of the hundreds, maybe even thousands of scents going up in the air and around him, it was too much for the turtle to try and pick one scent to follow or to guide him.  _'I guess there was a good reason on why I didn't leave home when I was still a child; this city's a major jumbo of messes, I can't even think clearly with all of this noise going on.'_ His eyes then looked up to the rooftops, where after he took a few sniff in the air for the scent of the roofs and seeing how there are no lights being lit above, Leo finally found their temporarily safe haven from the streets of the city. "Come on." He told his brothers, leading them to the other side of the street and using a fire escape ladder to swiftly climb up to the top of a building.

* * *

Once on top of the roof and no longer on the streets of the city, Leonardo could finally catch a breath of fresh air, which still held the many scents of the city but not as suffocating or intoxicating than the streets now below them.

_'Hmm... Much better,'_  he thought to himself.  _'It may still be very noisy and too much smells going around, but at least up here isn't too bright or hard to catch a breath.'_

**_Pup get use to atmosphere of city, eventually. Probably take time, but will master_ ** **_environment of city around Pup and better control over senses._ **

_And speaking of control... Nice Leadership you did back there, leading your brothers off the street and onto the rooftop. You sure you don't want to become leader?_

_'Yes, I'm pretty certain that I don't want to be leader.'_ Leo thought to himself, slowly making his way towards an edge of the rooftop and staring down at the street below him. A couple of cars passing by, a few humans walking normally on the sidewalk and minding their own business, an alley cat and a couple of stray dogs digging into the garbage cans in search for food or making themselves comfortable in their new territories.

_If you don't mind answering a question: What was that of you back there, giving an order to your brothers to follow you, when you claim to not want to lead?_

_'...I don't know. Instinct, I guess, or maybe because of my role as the eldest son to keep my younger-brothers in line, just as I always had to do when being forced to watch over them and being the most responsible one in the group.'_

"'Pis-zaw'?" Michelangelo voice brought Leo out of his conversation with his conscience and instinct, though he continued to keep his gaze down to the street of New York.

_'We'll discuss about this later,'_ he thought to himself. The eldest brother then turned his gaze to the left, glancing at his three brothers studying over the white-box Mikey picked up off the road that was left behind by the human-teenager Raphael scared off.

"Should we open it?" Donnie asked, unsure if whatever was inside the thin-box is harmless or could be dangerous to him and his brothers. Leo had to only sniff once in the air at the box and knew instantly that the box held no danger to them, which had also made his stomach growl louder from the smell the turtle inhaled.

_'That's odd,'_ he thought to himself.  _'All I did is sniffed at the box's scent, and it has already reawakened the growling of my stomach... Could whatever that's inside of the box actually be dangerous, and is having its scent covered in order to not be detected as a threat? Might be best to warn them.'_ "It might be dangerous, so be careful." He cautioned his brothers, before turning his gaze back to the city before his eyes. Within seconds, he heard somebody, who he assumes to be Raphael, considering he was the toughest and bravest of the bunch, opening the box and no longer had the box was open did the eldest turtle also heard the sound of sizzling and hissing.

"I think it's food." Donnie suggested, no longer afraid of the object sitting before him and his brothers when he saw it wasn't a living-being but still uncomfortable on not knowing if it's safe for them to be around it or not. Keeping his eyes over the city but keeping his hearing towards his brothers, Leo was relief to know that whatever the youngest-turtle picked up off the street wasn't considered to be dangerous to them.

_'Human-food, huh?'_ He thought to himself, which had once again made his stomach growl in demand for food.  _'No wonder it didn't smell dangerous and has made my stomach growl; Algae and Worms don't hold any sort of scent near to whatever this "Pis-zaw" food has... Although, we can't know for sure if this human-food is good for us, unless one of us tries it out.'_

"It's not like any food I ever saw." Raph stated, wondering on what those red-spots are supposed to be all over the yellowish-white stuff of said food.

_'And of course, if there's one person I know who has the guts to try out new things...'_

"I'll try it."

_'It's Mikey.'_

_You're not worried of him trying it? Human-food could be poisoning to you four._

_'If it was poisoning, I would've brought out Musashi and Kamiizumi before one of them could lay a hand on the box to open it and then slice up both the human-food and box into pieces for only the birds to eat.'_

"Mm! Mm." Leo smirked at hearing the satisfaction of his youngest-brother enjoying the human-food.

_'Anyway, from the sounds of Mikey scarfing the human-food in just a couple of bites, it's safe to say that the food isn't poisonous and seems to be the best food Mikey has ever eaten in his entire life.'_

"Uh, yuck. You guys won't like it. I'll take the rest." In an instant, both Donnie and Raph immediately grabbed for a piece or two of the food their baby brother just eaten a piece of, wanting to know what the human-food tastes like, for themselves.

"No way!" Donnie protested, stopping the youngest-turtle from taking away the food.

"Back off!" Raph ordered, quickly grabbing his own piece of the human-food in case Mikey somehow gets away with the rest of the food. Soon, all three of the younger brothers are munching away the human-food before them, devouring their own picks of the pieces in mere seconds. "I never thought I'd taste anything better than worms and algae, but this is amazing!"

"I love it up here!" Mikey cried out into the sky, not caring if the humans are to be able to hear them up on the rooftop or not, as he went back into eating the human-food. Leo smiled at hearing his brothers enjoying their very first human-food, happy to know that their time up in the city is so far going better than the three turtles expect it would be.

_**Sounds like Omega-Brothers and Beta-Brother having hell of a fun time up on surface, especially on how Kins are scarfing human-food as if it was Kins very first kill Kins had in weeks.** _

_'Yeah... It sure does sounds like it.'_ Then, for the third time, his stomach let out a big growl, practically begging its owner for food that his three brothers are eating away with glee. The moment his growl let out its desperate cry for food, the munching from the three younger turtles ceased and Leo knew that his stomach is the cause for the sudden silence.  _'_ _Ugh, forgot about my stupid, stomach problem.'_

_Well, if you had eaten the Worms and Algae, like you should had, then your stomach wouldn't be growling for food._

_'Yeah, and if I had eaten any Worms and Algae today, I would've been puking my guts out and Master Splinter might've kept me inside the Lair! You know very well of my refusal on eating Algae and Worms every day, let alone why I eat less than the others do.'_

_You may have a reason and point to your choice of action, but it doesn't mean you shouldn't try to eat a little more than you would normally eat; you're going to destroy your body and will eventually end up being weaker than your brothers, if you continue on this nasty habit of yours._

_**"Weak"? Pup nowhere near term "weak". Pup can easily take down Beta-Brother Raphael and be on equal battleground with Alpha, but Pup chooses to hold back true strength and keep hidden from Pack unless Pup goes up against foe with brute strength. As for Pup's eating habit, may be causing Pup to tire out quicker than Omega-Brothers and Beta-Brother, but at least trained self to last without food much longer than Kins or Alpha.** _

"Hey, Leo, get over here and try out this food, man!" Raphael called out to the eldest brother, who hadn't moved from his spot ever since they came up to the rooftop.

"Yeah, Leo, you've got to try this Pis-zaw food, man; it's, like, the greatest food ever made in existence!" Michelangelo added in, who was trying to reach out one of the last two pieces of the food but ended up getting his hands slapped away from the pieces by Donatello.

"And you might want to hurry and eat this stuff, before Mikey eats the rest of it." Rather than listening to Raph and Donnie, Leo simply turned his gaze back to the left-side to stare at his three brothers, then down at the two slices of the human-food that appeared had used to be whole, and turned back to stare at the city.

"No thanks, you guys. Mikey, you can have the rest of it." Excitement sparkled within Mikey's eyes and went to grab the two remaining pieces of the human-food, but Raph swiftly grabbed the two slices before the youngest turtle could devour them and stomped his way towards his big brother.

_Oh boy. Should've just went over and eaten the human-food, because now you're gonna have to, _once again,_  face the wrath of Raph's Temper Tantrums._

_'I know, but even if I did came over to eat it, which I'll probably be doing in the next ten seconds or more, I'll end up coughing that stuff out of my stomach and my stomach will be growling for food. So, whether I do eat or not, my stomach will keep growling and I'll still be able to keep up with my brothers.'_ Not putting up any resistance when the rough-hand came on his shoulder, Leo allowed himself to be pulled away from the ledge and to be face-to-face with his anger-issued brother.

"Sorry, bro, but you ain't getting out of not eating, this time." He then turned to Donnie and Mikey, both of them coming up from behind and each grabbing an arm of their blue-banded brother in case he tries to get away from what's going to happen, which wasn't the eldest turtle's plan in the least. "We can't have a great time exploring the city, without you experiencing your very first human-food that isn't Worms and Algae." He then held up one of the slices to Leo's face, smirking when Leo's stomach let out another mighty growl at the sight of food in front of its owner's eyes. "Come on, Leo, you know you want to try it."

"I don't know if Leo actually wants to, but I know that I want to if he doesn't." Mikey warned, his grip on his big brother's arm shaking and loosening the longer he doesn't takes a bite out of the slice. If Leo had eyebrows, he would've most likely raised one of them in annoyance at his three brothers trying to get him to eat human-food, when he wasn't even planning on getting out of the situation.

_Well? Go ahead, and take a bite. It's about time you four do some fun together, an event that involves **all four of you**  on wanting to do an activity, instead of playing just for the sake of your brothers._

_**...Hate to admit it, but do what Pup's Conscience told Pup to do. Take** _ **_opportunity to truly bond with Omega-Brothers and Beta-Brother, by doing something Pup and Kins can agree on doing together, which is to explore Human City before Pup... Do so, for the sake of Pack._ **

It seems that everyone, even his Instincts, are wanting him to do something that he hardly does with his family: Have fun, and to be happy. Though this isn't his way on being truly happy, since he knows this isn't the same as gaining the freedom his heart still craves for, Leo was going to do what his other dream has been for as long as he could remember, which is to truly bond with his brothers and to explore the city before them. So, letting out a deep sigh of surrender and staring up at the slice of the human-food in front of his face, Leo smiled at his brother and, after easily pulling his right-hand out of Mikey's grip, he took the slice and at that very moment, he was going to enjoy every single second he has with his brothers by wondering the city.

Sure, this wasn't the way that the turtle wanted it to be on his first time above the sewers and no, the city isn't as cleansed or an actual perfect place to be living in as the Lair, but New York City, alone, is no doubt going to be one of Leo's most greatest adventure and discovery to ever come across with or encounter in his entire life.

**TBC**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know they used their left-hands when they were eating their worms, but I'm going to have Leo be Ambidexterity (both left and right-handed). I also don't know what turtle hands are called, so I'm sticking with 'paws' for the time being. And don't worry, next chapter will have where they meet April O'Neil (just like in the episode) and there very first fight/battle/mission.
> 
> I'm not very good with what Splinter would say in his Words of Wisdom.
> 
> FYI: I'm not very good at describing fights, so I'm not sure how that's going to turn out but I'll do my best on it for the next chapter.
> 
> R&R


	3. The Difficulties we Must Face

A full hour swiftly went by and the four brothers went from rooftop to rooftop, having the time of their lives and exploring the many parts of the city as much as they could.

"Yeah-ha!"

"Whoohoo!"

"Yippy! Ha ha!"

While Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo would practically throw themselves over to the next building they come across of and do some flips or somersaults to show off their moves, Leonardo would have himself scale to the highest point of each building they go on and then launch himself to the next rooftop, swiftly going on ahead of the group to have himself mentally remember where they've been and if the places they go to are considered safe to hang out or too noticeable for the humans to be able to see them.

_Uh, aren't you forgetting something?_

Instantly, Leo slammed the breaks on his speed and skidded to a stop near a ledge of the rooftop he was about to launch himself over to the next building across the street.

_'My brothers are right behind me and can easily catch up,'_ he thought to himself.  _'And even if I were to try and get away from them, which I'm not, they'll somehow be able to track me down and bring me back to the Lair to get me in trouble.'_

_No, that's not it. You're supposed to be playing and having fun with your brothers, not stand on the sideline and scope out the city._

Leo narrowed his eyes to what his conscience told him, while looking over the city and awaiting his brothers to catch up to him.

_'You didn't tell me that I couldn't scope out the city, and besides, you also agreed that studying the many parts of New York would be a great idea in case I were to somehow leave the Pack and watch over my brothers from afar.'_

_That's not the point here! The point is, is that you're supposed to be bonding with your brothers and right now, you aren't bonding with them!_

The blue-banded turtle scoffed at his conscience's words.

_'Uh, I have been bonding with them.'_

_Yeah, like forty-five minutes ago! That's WAY too short to be enough time to build up your bond with your brothers!_

_**Although, must admit, fifteen minutes' basically longest time Pup has been able to bond with Kins, without any interruption or any of Kins ending activity from** _ **_boredom. Pup needs time to get used to spending more time with Omega-Brothers and Beta-Brother, than average less than five minutes time Pup ever had with Kins._ **

Smiling at his instincts backing him up on his reason to why he ended his bonding-moment with his brothers so early, Leo gazed over the horizon of the taller buildings of New York City, while hearing the sound of feet skidding over the ground behind him and feeling the presence of his younger brothers standing beside him. As the feeling of the wind blew against their skin and making the tail of their masks wave in the air, Leo looked up at the dark-sky and stared at the stars, already catching a Constellation that he had read from a book that he can use to tell the time: The Big Dipper. It took him ten seconds to what position the Big Dipper was in and another seven seconds to also find the Polaris Star, which he was then was able to see that it was nearing to nine o'clock at night.

_'Good thing that I've read about being able to tell the time by the sun, moon or stars.'_ He thought to himself, closing his eyes and feeling his headache starting to fade from the gentle touch of the wind cooling off his skin from all that running he just did with his brothers.  _'Donnie ain't the only_ _smart turtle in the family.'_

_Nevertheless, Donnie is still the smartest in the family, with either you or Father being second. And speaking of Father, he's probably getting worried and may want you four to return home at this very moment._

_'Unfortunately, you have to ruin the mood and have me get my brothers to complain once I tell them the news.'_ Leo thought to himself, letting out a tiring sigh.  _'Man, how many times have I been sighing for? I really need to stop doing that.'_ "All right, guys, it's getting late. We should probably head back home." Just as he predicted, his three brothers groaned and moaned on what their eldest-brother just told them, even though they knew he was right.

"Lame..." Mikey stated, as he turned away from the ledge and to follow his older-brothers. Just as Donnie was about to turn away, his eyes caught something that made him stop in his steps.

"Guys! Look at that!" He told his brothers, pointing to what just happened to gain his complete attention that was so important for the rest to see what it was: There, on the other side of the street, are two humans calmly walking on the sidewalk, most likely heading home after doing an activity together.

One of the two humans, was an average-looking middle aged man with red-hair and goatee. He also has blue-eyes, wears a brown-jacket with a grey undershirt, tan-pants and brown-shoes. Although, Leo had a feeling that it wasn't that human Donnie was pointing at. No, it was the second human walking beside him: A teenaged girl.

Like the man beside her, she has red-hair, which is in a ponytail, with a yellow headband on top of her head, and blue-eyes, which most likely means that the man beside her is her father. She is lean, with her height to be at least an inch or two shorter than Leo's own height. She has and wears brown-wristbands, a yellow and white shirt with a number five on it, a black t-shirt under the yellow-shirt from the black-sleeves showing, a black choker, jean-shorts with leggings under them, blue-and-yellow socks and black boots.

**_A human girl? That's what Omega-Brother Donatello wants Pup and Kins to see, is human girl? What is it about her that Omega-Brother wanted all Kins to see for selves?_ **

"She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen." Leo jerked his head back and turned to his second younger-brother, seeing a corner of his mouth having a drool hanging out of the corner-right of it and, from his strong hearing, he could hear Don's heart beating in an odd sort of pace.

_Sounds like somebody has been bitten by the Love bug._

"Isn't she the only girl you've ever seen?" Raph asked, giving him an odd look that tells the genius turtle that whatever he's thinking is never going to happen the way he wants it.

"My point still stands." Donnie backed up, standing up tall and sounding as if he isn't going to take back what he said about that human girl. Leo, also feeling the same on what Raph's most likely thinking, also gave him a disprovable glare at his younger-brother and shook his head.

_'That's just great: Our first time up on the surface and Donnie's fallen head over heels for some girl he just seen tonight, who he doesn't even know what her name is... Sensei's **really**  going to love this, once we tell him the news that one of his four sons has a crush for a human.' _Before he could even tell Donatello that he should forget about the girl and face the fact he won't get a chance with her, since they aren't human and would most likely freak her on seeing a humanoid-turtle jump out of nowhere, his strong hearing suddenly caught the sound of tires screeching and a car coming towards the road below them.

Glancing down, he saw a white-van coming to a stop in front of the two humans Donnie wanted them to see, who both look confused when the van just happened to stop them from crossing the road. On the right-side of the van, a human came out. He was slim, had black hair, wore a white tank top and blue-jeans. When the slim human came out, the doors at the back of the van sprang opened and four identical men in neat black suits and blank facial expressions hopped out of the car. Leo's eyes widen in shock when he saw those four men that just came out of the car and slowly making their way towards the father and daughter, with the father standing over his child to protect her if the strangers were to harm her and the daughter clinging onto her father's left-arm in fear the four men would separate them.

Rage build up inside of Leo's chest, his eyes narrowing with gaze of hatred held within his iris and his teeth clenching on having to hold in the snarl he so wanted to let out.

_'It's **them**...' _He snarled out in his thoughts, slowly reaching for his twin Katanas, Musashi and Kamiizumi, in order to prepare himself to fight.

_Wait! Father's instructions were very clear. You four are to stay away from people... And bathrooms. This is not your problem and mustn't get involved into it. Leave now and let the humans take care of it!_

His hands ceased themselves from reaching for his blades, surprised and a little startled on what he just heard. If his conscience were another person and had a body, Leo would've most likely be glaring at it.

_'In case you don't know or have forgotten, those **humans**  down there are the cause of us being humanoid-turtles, with me being a humanoid-wolf/turtle, fifteen years ago! We can't leave those two humans to have their lives ruined, all because Master Splinter doesn't want us to be seen by humans!'_

_**Besides, running away isn't an option! Kins need help and, from looks of it, doesn't seem that any other humans are around to help!** _

"I'm gonna go down there and save them!" Donatello's voice broke through Leonardo's conversation with his instinct and conscience and, without any hesitation, launched himself off the rooftop and towards the shadows that was closest to one of the four men that stood guard over the back doors of the van. Immediately after the third eldest took in charge on going down to the street without coming up with a plan, Raphael and Michelangelo also leapt in the air and followed suit on attacking the four men from the shadows. Remaining in his spot on the roof, Leo observed the scene before him, while continuing on his little conversation with his conscience.

_'Well, do you still think we should head back to the Lair, **now**? They're already down there, fighting, and doesn't seem they'll listen to me on heading back to the Lair.'_

_..._ _ Ugh... This is going to end badly and no doubt you four will be punished by Splinter after the battle ends, with a possibility that you four will be forbidden on coming back up to the surface for another year or so. _

_**Discuss about punishment Alpha will be giving out, later. Right now, time to get down there and fight!** _

Smirking at his instincts ending their conversation and finally grabbing for Musashi and Kamiizumi, Leo launched himself in the air and towards one of the four men trying to grab for the girl. Before his hand could grab for her left-arm, Leo held out his right-foot towards the man's face and kicked him away from the teenaged girl. The blank-faced human was knocked against the wall of a building and fell to the ground, but has quickly collected himself off the sidewalk and stared at the eldest-turtle as if he were something old and unimpressed of. The turtle glared at the human before him, standing protectively over the human girl as if she were a member of his pack, while holding Musashi in the air next to his head on his right and Kamiizumi out and across his plastron.

"Don't even think about it," he growled out. Instead of talking back, the human simply cracked his knuckles and held them up against his chest, crouching himself down a bit to ready himself to charge.

_**Human has guts; not afraid of Pup's appearance, not getting a scratch or being stunned from kick in face and ready to take Pup down. This outta be interesting.** _

_'Indeed. Let's see if he can still pick himself off the ground, once I break one or both of his legs.'_

_Wait a minute! You can't go seriously injuring him; he's a human! Father taught you four to fight in order to defend, not to purposely harm others or to kill your opponents, whether it be for reason or vengeance! Remember, you swore to Father that you would always follow _Bushidō.__

Leo tightened his grip onto his swords, knowing that his conscience was right about that, even if he hates to deny it.

_'Fine, I won't break his legs. I'll just rough him and his gang up a bit until they get the message and leave.'_ He then turned his gaze towards the girl below him, who was staring up at him with fear and confusion on what was going on. "Grab your father and get out of here." He told the girl in a calm but demanding voice, then turned to stare at the human in front of him. "I have a little score to settle with you and your three friends fighting against my brothers, for what you four did to us, fifteen years ago." Just as he said those words and also couching a bit low to the ground to ready himself, Leo pushed his legs to put on burst of speed and charged towards his opponent.

The moment they collided with each other, the human delivered a punch in the chest to the turtle and sent him falling on his back and onto the street, stunning him a bit from feeling both the impact and force he just felt from the human.

_'Okay, ow!'_ He thought to himself, shaking his head to get rid of whatever dizziness he was feeling in his head and quickly got up to his feet, only to then jump back in order to avoid being shoved against by Raph and his fight. Focusing his mind back to his own opponent, he heard the sound of rushing wind coming up from above him, which he immediately saw to be his opponent coming down with a powerful kick. Instinctively, Leo sheathed his swords away and forced himself to do a quick backflip, which he was able to avoid the kick and using his hands to spring him back, give his opponent a kick in the chest when the human stood up to his full height from the impact of his landing. As the human stumbled back, Leo then started to swiftly struck the human's limbs and chest, going for the pressure points to prevent his opponent from using his arms and to cripple him in temporarily pain.

However, as the eldest turtle jammed his fingers towards the pressure points he was taught to locate and use as in advantage to temporarily paralyze his opponent, he felt something off with the human and noticed he wasn't withering in pain as he should be at this moment. Immediately, he leapt away from his opponent, who almost slammed a powerful punch to the side of his head if he hadn't dodged, and kneeled to the ground to catch his breath a bit.

_'What's going on? I hit the right areas to where his upper pressure points should be and applying the right amount of pressure to cause the damage, but he isn't showing the slightest sign on being in pain!'_

_Something else isn't right about this human. Not just him, but the rest of his colleague don't seem to act right at all._

_'"Act right"? What do you mean by that?'_

_It's from the way they're moving or not making a sound: Like, when that one human fighting Raph got punched in the stomach and took a few steps away from the van, after tossing that girl's father into the van, he didn't gasp out a single breath like he should have if he's gotten the wind punched out of him or holding his stomach from the possible bruise that's going to form on him._

Leo's eyes widen from what his conscience just informed him about, as he slowly got to his feet and started clenching his hands to get rid of any damage to his sense of touch from the continuous jabbing to the body.

_'Is that so?'_ He asked in his mind, as he unsheathed his swords and crossed the both of them in front of him to warn his opponent that he now means business.

_**Something else isn't right about humans; Omega-Brother Donatello whacked and jabbed Naginata Bō staff at opponent's chest, yet human didn't show any sign of feeling pain or hurting at all from impact... Almost like human's body are tougher than normal-human body should be.** _

_'...In that case...'_ Motioning for his opponent to come at him, which the human did and ran charging towards the turtle, Leo launched himself in the air and brought down both his swords towards the human, who ceased his running and stared up at the blue-banded turtle.

_What are you doing?! You're going to cut straight through him!_

_'I know that! I need to do a little test on him!'_ When he almost made it back to solid ground, the human held up his right-arm in the air, expecting it to block the two swords from coming down on top of him and to prevent them from cutting him... Which, after the Katanas had made contact with the arm shielding the human, it had not only blocked out the attack, but has also been able to withstand the turtle's weight and flung him aside, causing the turtle to land roughly onto the street on his left-side and to slowly get on his knees.

_...What just happened?_

_'Something that I was expecting to happen from my hunch,'_ he thought to himself.  _'There's no way that his arm, on its own, should be able to absorb the impact of my landing, not get a single scratch from my Katanas and to still be connected to the body.'_ Unfortunately, not only was the human able to stop his attack without injury, but was able to leave the turtle a little breathless, considering he used all of his strength from launching himself as high as he could in the air and was still exhausted on having to do the pressure points on him. Just as he thought his opponent was going to finish him off, the human turned his attention to where Donnie was trying to reassure the girl that they were here to help her and her father and slowly reached in with another of the human to grab her.

Too bad for Donatello wasn't getting any luck on befriending her, because when he and the girl were about to make a sort of connection, Mikey came up from behind while backing away from his opponent and accidentally whacked Donnie in the head with his Nunchaku. After getting whacked in the head, the genius turtle was then kicked in the plastron by one of the humans, which sent him and Mikey flying backwards and hitting against a couple of trash cans next to a staircase of a house. As Leo got to his feet, he heard the sound of the van being turned back on and turned to see the girl has tape covering her mouth before the back door of the van closed and the car began to drive away.

"They're getting away! They got the girl!" Donnie exclaimed, flipping over to grab his Naginata Bō staff that was left on the street when he kicked away and trying to get himself to run as fast as the van was going.

_**Don't let van get away! Go after it!** _

After sheathing his swords back into their sheaths on his back and knowing that his brothers will be alright on their own while catching up, Leo made haste and followed the speeding van. Already passing by Donatello in just a few seconds and turning a sharp corner to the right, the blue-banded turtle was able to track down which direction the van was going by memorizing the scent the human girl carried and in just about half a second, he caught sight of the van. Unfortunately, there were other cars passing by and the turtle knew he mustn't let other humans see him or he could cause a few damage to the area and injuries to the innocent people. Immediately, he climbed up on a street light pole and launched himself across the street to a rooftop.

_'I won't be able to catch up to them on the street, but I might be able to catch up to them if I follow them above the building.'_ He thought to himself, following the scent of the human girl and her father, while leaping over buildings and using light poles as planks to help get him to the next building across the street.

_**Must hurry, Pup; Body's still tired from fight with opponent and running out of energy by overusing it during time exploring city!** _

_'I know that, but I can't go any faster than I'm already running at this paste and I still don't know much of the city and its places!'_

_**Yes, Pup can. Pup can go faster than speed Pup's already going. Omega-Brothers and Beta-Brother very much behind and Alpha not here to stop Pup from doing what Pup loves to do, which has always been blessing by making Pup go twice as fast than Pup can run in.** _

Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes widen when he realized what his instincts are telling him to do, which then made his heart thundered a bit faster from the thought of what he had loved to do but always has to force himself to stop when Master Splinter scolds him for not walking on just his feet like he was told to do.

_**Pup, know it's the only way to catch up to humans and from how low Pup's energy getting, will only have one shot to sprang up on foes from above.** _

Stopping himself on a rooftop to catch his breath a bit and watching the van veering to the left, Leo let out a deep breath and flexed his hands to warm them up.

_'Alright, let's do this.'_

Still hearing the sound of the van screeching and still being able to pick up the scent of the two humans, the blue-banded turtle pushed his body to run again and after taking five swift steps, he launched his body towards the next roof and made a perfect landing on all-four, which he then pushed his body to sprint-run on all-four. In just about ten seconds on running and leaping on all-four over the houses, buildings and streets, Leo found the van below him and was going a bit faster than the car he was chasing. His arms started to ache and his feet felt as if they were going to lose whatever strength he had left in them, but the turtle wasn't going to have his body fail on him, not when he has prey to take down and two innocent victims that needed his help. With his teeth bared from the thought of hunting those four men down and getting himself in the perfect position of the car by being a few inches ahead of it, he launched himself in the air and, by grabbing his short-sword, Kamiizumi, he positioned his body over the street and jabbed his blade on top of the van he landed on.

_Perfect landing! Quickly, force open a hole and grab those two humans out of the vehicle!_

However, just as he pulled Kamiizumi out of the van he forced his blade to dig into and was going to jab into the same spot to help him make a bigger cut into the car, he heard a sound that he recognized from one of his shows of  **Space**   **Heroes**  show to his left.

**_Move, now!_ **

Before he could take a step back, a blast was heard and suddenly felt a burning force of sensation at his left-shoulder. He let out a grunt from the harsh-burning spreading into his shoulder, already feeling warm-liquid blood surfacing from the wound and pooling underneath his arm. Turning to his left, he saw one of the four men aiming at looks to be some sort of blaster in a form of a gun at him and seeing the light building up at the opening of the weapon, the turtle forced himself to roll backwards and to grab for the top of the car when his body fell off of it, before any more of the blaster's attack could touch him. Because the van was now at his left, Leo was forced to use his left-hand to keep his grip on it until he puts Kamiizumi back into its sheath with his right, making the pain in his shoulder even more painful than it already was and for the wound to pour out even more blood from the stretching of his injury. Quickly switching hands before his left-hand slips its grip from being coated in his blood, the turtle kept a tight grip on the roof and tried to pull himself back to the top of the car.

_No, don't pull yourself up! Let go of the vehicle, now!_

_'What? I can't do that! That small family needs my help and I can't abandon them!'_ He argued with his conscience, trying to urge his right-hand to pull his entire weight up and back on the van.

_If you want to live long enough to help them, let go of the vehicle before you get blasted from that slim human to your right!_

Hearing the sound of the blaster charging its attack from his right caught the turtle's attention, which he then turned and saw it was the slim human that came out of the van with those four lookalikes, aiming a blaster to what he assumes to be either his right-hand or his head.

**_Let go for now, Pup; still know and have girl and father's scent, along with Pup's blood coating vehicle. Will allow Pup to track down vehicle next time Pup and Kins come up to surface and look for the humans. For now, and unfortunately, Pup have to let foes go._ **

Clenching his hand on the edge of the van and peaking a quick glance at the logo of the car, in case he were to not be able to find their scent if the van gets washed from the scent it carries, Leo immediately let go of the car before the blaster released its attack and did a somersault or two on the street to decrease his chances on getting any more wounded than he already was. He soon found himself kneeling on the street and gasping for air, as he watch the van veer to the right and disappearing from his sight. Once it was gone and no longer heard the sound of screeching tires echoing through the air, the turtle slowly pushed his body to stand up, which he did staggered a bit from the overuse of his legs but still has enough energy to stand and be able to walk, as long as he doesn't push his body to run until he gets his energy back.

_'Ung... Good thing it's already late and that there aren't any more humans coming out here, otherwise they would be freaking out on seeing an injured humanoid-turtle standing in the middle of the road.'_ He thought to himself, as he brought up his right-hand to his wounded-shoulder, wincing from having to put on pressure to it but knowing he needs to stop the bleeding.  _'Damn it! Whatever those weapons of theirs are, it sure can leave a good wound to the body. I sure hope that the injury won't prevent me from using my arm in battle while it heals.'_

_You should considered yourself lucky that the weapon didn't break your humerus bone, or worse, blow your arm right off of your shoulder!_

_'Yeah, I should be grateful that I still have two arms.'_ Leo thought to himself, as he stared at the last spot he seen the van turn at and then slowly made his way to an alley to follow the scent of his brothers that was a few blocks away from his location, where he can also hear Mikey's screaming some nonsense about a human he was fighting has a brain in his chest.

_Father isn't going to like what he's going to hear, once you and your brothers tell him about the news._

* * *

**Back to the Lair...**  
"And so, your inability to work together not only allowed them all to get away, but has also gotten one of you seriously injured!" Splinter yelled at his sons, who was clearly mad and disappointed on hearing what his four sons just did while exploring the city. While keeping his head down and closing his eyes to see nothing but the darkness that had always helped calmed him down, Leo held in a groan of annoyance at his sensei's lecture, as if it were the same news that he's been told over and over again.

_**If Alpha should be mad at Pup or Kins, it be Omega-Brother Donatello; Omega-Brother went in, without thinking up plan or heeding Alpha's warning, and** _ **_purposely blew cover because of some human girl Omega-Brother fell head over heels for. As for wound Pup gotten, it really isn't serious; just simple flesh wound Omega-Brother Donatello easily taken cared of by wrapping injury, though Pup could've taken care of the wound by self._ **

_Even if the fault is all on Donnie, you and the rest of your brothers are also at fault for going into battle, when they should've left the humans alone but ended up making the situation much worse._

_'And, once again, I have to take blame of my brothers and listen to another one of Sensei's lecture, again... What number does this add up to the _list of_  "Taking the Blame and Responsibility for my Brothers" this time? I lost track at three hundred forty-seven.'_

_Three hundred sixty-two._

_'Another three more of that, and then I'll have the numbers of sticking out for my brothers to the equivalent of a full-year in my fifteen years of being in this Clan as a humanoid-wolf/turtle.'_

"Well, maybe if I didn't have two screw ups always getting in my way, I could've saved them! Besides, it was Donnie that went flying off on his own! How smart was that, Dork-a-tello?!" Raphael stated, glaring over his big brother and at his younger-brother, who glared back at the red-banded turtle.

"Well, it would've worked out great, if somebody hadn't hit me in the head with their Nunchucks!" Donnie exclaimed, turning his gaze and passing the blame over to their youngest brother.

"Well, none of this would've happened if..." Mikey turned to his left, realizing while in his panicking-state that nobody was kneeling over there, and without thinking, passed the blame over to the person in front of him. "Somebody hadn't trusted us to go up there in the first place!" Immediately, all the brothers, even Leo, lifted their heads up and stared in shock and worry towards their father.

_'Did... Did Mikey just passed the blame towards Sensei?'_ Leo asked himself, not sure if he should be angry at his youngest brother for what he said... Or, actually take on his side and agree to him about their sensei trusting them to go up in the surface, even if the four of them were at fault on making him decide too quickly, all because they wanted to go up so badly and not be trapped underneath the city any longer.

_Oh boy... Mikey's going to be in for it this time, isn't he?_

_**Omega-Brother Michelangelo doesn't think before acts, especially when** _ **_under pressure or when all negative attention are on self._ **

"Oh, geez." From the tone of his voice, it sounded like Mikey didn't really mean what he just said about his father, though it was already too late to take back what he just said. "Sensei, I didn't mean to..."

"No, Michelangelo. You are right." Splinter told his son, his face showing no signs of hurt to what his youngest child just said about him and looks like he really does agree to what he just said.

"I am?" Mikey asked, not sure if he should be happy or upset and worried that he was right about something.

"He is?" Raph and Donnie asked in unison, while Leo simply stared at his brother with confusion held within his eyes.

_'How could Mikey be right about it being Sensei's fault? We were the ones to push Master Splinter into letting us go, and all because of our sad-faces we put up in order for him to make the decision.'_

_That may as well be true, but I don't think it was the decision on letting you go up to explore the city he meant is his fault; it's most likely about your fight with the four men he meant is his fault._

_'Our fight? What was wrong with our fighting?'_

_If you're to recall on how those humans fought, at least one of them would go after one of your brothers, after he was able to bring down one of your siblings for at least a few seconds... Those four men fought as a team. You and your brothers, while you all have many strengths in battle, you all were taught to fight on your own and against one another. In other terms, Father never taught you four to fight together, as a team._

"You were not fully prepared for what was up there. I trained you to fight as individuals, not as a team." Splinter explained to his sons, which made the three younger brothers felt ashamed of themselves for not realizing it and the eldest turtle surprised that his conscience already figured out what his sensei meant.

_See? He's blaming himself for not being able to train you four to fight as a team._

"And as your teacher, your father, the responsibility for that is mine... Perhaps in another year we can try again." The four brothers widen their eyes from their father's suggestion.

"Another year?!" Donnie exclaimed, clearly not liking what Splinter just said to them.

_'This, I totally agree with Donnie on. Another year?!'_ Leo yelled in his mind, glaring at the back of Splinter's head but immediately lowering his head and glared at the floor.  _'He can't be serious! We just told him, like a minute ago, that we screwed up in a fight and allowed two humans, a father and daughter, to get kidnapped by four men, who happened to be the cause of what we became fifteen years ago, and all he suggest us to do is forget about those innocent humans for a year?!'_

_He has his reasons for making a decision._

_'Yeah? Well, this time, his decision isn't helping anybody! It's not helping those two humans, who most likely don't have a year to wait for us to save them. It's not helping my brothers, who all were truly happy for the first time since they wanted to go up to the surface. And lastly, it's not helping him, for he will be the cause of letting the two innocent people suffer in the hands of those identical humans, and he knows that!'_

"Ha! Has everybody forgotten that people were kidnapped?" Donnie asked his brothers, who all clearly agreed to what he's saying and going through with it, even though the mess was sort of his fault for rushing into the battle without thinking up a plan. "They don't have a year! Sensei, we have to do something now!" Splinter glared down at his third child, seeing within his brownish-red eyes that his son had a crush on the human girl he had failed to rescued. "You weren't there, sensei. You didn't see the way that girl looked into my eyes. She was scared. And she was counting on me..." The three brothers gave him glares of annoyance and confusion to what just said on that last part.

_'You? Counting on **just**  you, little brother? Geez, and I thought Raph would be the only one sounding as if he was trying to be the hero and save the day.' _Leo thought to himself, not liking to hear that the genius turtle is still allowing his emotions to get in a way, all because he had a simple crush on the girl for the first time he laid eyes on her.

_**Omega-Brother Donatello will surely get Pup and Kins killed and likely leave Pup and Kins behind if human girl is all Omega Brother's going to be thinking about.** _

"Uh, us... To save her!" Donnie quickly corrected on what just let slip out without thinking, staring up at his Sensei to have him reconsider his suggestion on keeping them in the sewers for another year and preventing them from helping that family out.

Splinter lifted his gaze far out into space, then turned to the small shrine he built when he made the sewers his home after being mutated into a humanoid-rat and gazed at the small black-and-white picture that he has always kept with him ever since he left Japan... The  _ **only**_  picture he has of himself as a human, his beloved wife, Tang Shen, and their beautiful baby girl, Miwa. Splinter knew that if Shen were alive to this very day and were to be in the conversation with them, no doubt she would've wanted Yoshi to let  _their_ sons go back to the surface and save that small family from those four men who turned them into humanoid-animals... And, that if Donnie truly has a crush for the girl, then they mustn't get in his way on winning her heart, even if he may never actually get a chance with her but may learn the difference between a crush and to truly be in love.

"Yes, you must save her." He told the turtles, his eyes now holding understanding that this was one of those moments of them gaining their wisdom from the mistake they just made. Leo, who was a little surprised, was happy to hear that their sensei is going to listen to reason and allow them to fix the mistake that they, mostly Donnie, made happen.

_'It's almost like to this very day, Tang Shen's still here for Sensei and is helping him make the right choice and decision for us and how to fix our choice of action.'_

_**Even in death, Alpha's mate still there for Alpha and forever be in heart to guide Alpha through the troubles Alpha still faces.** _

_Now that Father is telling you four to save the human girl and her father, now we have another problem to discuss about: The Teamwork situation._

"We agree, Sensei, that we must save the human girl and her father, but we still have a problem." Leo told their sensei, still keeping his gaze to the ground and avoiding eye-contact with the humanoid-rat. "In that fight, we weren't exactly a well-oiled machine."

"Yeah, like that robot with the brain thingy." Mikey brought up once again, still claiming that he actually seen a human brain pop out of one of the four men's chest.

"Give a rest!" Raph told their youngest brother, tired on having to hear the orange-banded turtle's made up fairytale that he still say that it was true, when Raph and Donnie were trying to catch up to Leo on stopping that van.

However, while Raph and Donnie believe that Mikey was making something up and probably just saw something or imagined it happened, Leo could hear no lie coming out of his youngest brother's voice and, hearing his heart not beating in a frantic rhythm like it would do when trying to come up with a great lie, the blue-banded turtle chose to not doubt his brother's words and stay quiet for the time being.

_If what Mikey just said was true, then perhaps that would explain part of the reason why those humans didn't respond or acted like humans would originally do._

_'But the question is, were they actually humans to begin with or are they something much more than humans?'_ Leo wondered in his thoughts, having a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach that they're going to find some answers he's been wanting to find for a long time.

"If you are to fight more effectively as a unit, you are going to need a leader." Splinter told his sons, with three of his children having hopeful eyes on getting the chance to actually be a leader, while only one kept his gaze down and looks to be unimpressed on the thought of being leader.

_'Oh boy, here comes the brawl on who wants to lead and why they should be leader.'_ Leo thought to himself, staying quiet and showing no signs of wanting to be in the conversation in the least.

"I should be the leader. I can kick all of your butts, no sweat or difficulty." Raph declared, keeping his head held high and having a cocky smile on his face for coming up with the best excuse to be leader.

"Hey, I'm smarter than all you guys put together. It should be me." Donnie butted in, giving his older-brother a challenging glare on coming up with another reason why the red-banded turtle should be the leader.

"No way! It should be  _me!_ " Mikey cried out, which made his two older-brothers stare at him in confusion on what his combat would be to why he should lead them. "I don't really have a reason. I just think it would be neat." Leo let out a quiet sigh.

_'Of course, Mikey, you would think it would be "neat" to be leader. Just wait until you realize how much you need to really focus if you were to become the leader.'_ Then, not trying to grab anybody's or be in the center of attention, he got to his feet and calmly made his way out of the Dojo... Or, at least he tried to leave the Dojo.

"Hey, Leo, where do ya think you're going?" Raphael called out, stopping his big brother in his tracks on leaving.

"I think I'm heading for my room to prepare myself to head out soon, while you three and Master Splinter decides who should be leader." Leonardo answered calmly, turning his gaze to stare into the confuse and irritated look of his younger-brother. "Why? Is there a problem about me being prepared? On second thought, it shouldn't really be a problem to you, considering you're not given the mantle of Leadership."

"Not  _yet_ , I haven't been announced as leader." Raph backed up, still having that cocky smirk on his face and not seeing the confused look Splinter has on his face. He then took a few steps forward towards his eldest child, who had turned his gaze towards the shōji to leave the Dojo.

"Leonardo, do you wish to become leader?" The rat asked, which his question made the three other turtles wonder why their big brother hadn't said anything about wanting to be the leader of the team or why he should be leader. Leo narrowed his eyes at the shōji, not wanting to explain to his family of his reason why he didn't want to stick around to hear who was going to be leader, when he knew that it'll most likely be Raph.

_'Why bother asking me that sort of question, when I obviously don't want to explain myself by leaving the conversation and heading for my room?'_ Leo asked himself in his thoughts, though he already knew that he has to answer his sensei's question when the question wasn't involved about his estrange behavior or him being more antisocial around the Hamato Clan. "Honestly, Sensei... No, I don't want to become leader." He answered, making his three brothers stunned by his words and Splinter surprised that his eldest didn't want what his three younger sons did.

"Dude, you don't want to be leader?" Michelangelo asked his brother, after using both his index-fingers to clear out his ears in case he had something in them that made him heard his big brother wrong. "How can you not want to become leader, bro? Being leader is, like, one of the most awesomeness thing to ever happen in your entire life!" Leo winced a bit from the volume his brother chose to speak in, making his right-ear have a little ringing going on in his hearing that'll probably last about a few minutes or so.

_'To Mikey, everything he sees on TV or finds in the sewers, is "the most awesomeness thing" to ever happen in life.'_

_**No matter what Kins ages are, to every pup, whatever find or hear from others will always capture interest until either get tired of it or no longer see it to reach interest.** _

"Well, that's your perspective on how you see Leadership to be, Mikey." Leo told his brother, glancing at the orange-band turtle with a certain tiredness his eyes held. "I, on the other hand, see no joy or anything positive of what being leader would bring to me and will have no interest on ever wanting to be the leader." He then turned back to face the shōji. "Now, if you don't mind on letting me go, I need to get something that will help us out on our mission." Without waiting for an answer from anybody of his family, he made his way towards the shōji and left the Dojo.

_You do realize that you'll most likely be punished for leaving the Dojo, without Father's permission or say that you can leave._

_'I know, and right now, I don't care if Sensei grounds me from going up to the surface for a whole moon after we save that family. As long as he heard on what I want him and the others to hear, then it doesn't really matter.'_

_**Not only that, Alpha only asked Pup question and Pup have answer, meaning Pup not gone against Alpha's wishes or demands, since Alpha hasn't given Pup order to stay put within Training Room.** _

Rather than going to his own bedroom, however, Leo made his way to the bathroom. After locking the door behind him in case his brothers were to try and barge in, like they always do, he sat himself against the bathtub and in front of the toilet, waiting for his stomach to reject the two human-food slices he ate over an hour ago and for him to cough up whatever was left of the food in his stomach. Which, after sensing that its master is no longer holding in the food it was forced to hold on to for a full hour during their time above the surface, his stomach immediately brought up the food it had more than halfway digested it and made the turtle vomit the food into the toilet.

Over the past fifteen years as a humanoid-wolf/turtle, Leo found out that he can't eat as much his sensei and brothers can, and that he mustn't force himself to try and increase his appetite: If he were to be pressured too hard on eating any more than he can already handle or is forced to eat when he doesn't feel like eating, the distress can easily upset his stomach and then it'll try to get rid of the discomfort by forcing the turtle to vomit the food out of his body. And though he ate the two human-food slices by his choice, though a little more by his conscience wanting him to keep their bond strong and firm, he was both forced and pressured into eating the two slices by his brothers, which had also resorted of him to force his stomach to hold in the human-food until he allows his stomach to bring it up or when it finishes digesting it and have him go through some serious abdominal pain for a good hour or two.

After heaving up the food a couple of times to empty his stomach, Leo reached for a toilet-paper at his left to wipe away any bile that still lingers on his face and then flushed the toilet to rid away whatever his stomach brought up.

_'Thank god that Donnie soundproofed the bathroom door and walls, or the guys and Sensei would be all over my shell if they think I've gotten sick again.'_ He thought to himself, as he quickly washed his hands and face to rid away the smell of his condition in case it still clung to the skin, then went into brushing his teeth for a good three minutes and swiftly left the bathroom to make his way to his bedroom.  _'Alright, back to what I need to get for the mission.'_ He made his way towards a dresser at the far right of his room, where he would keep some valuable stuff that helps him kill the time away when he was either bored or don't feel like coming out of his room unless he needs to. At the bottom-third shelf of the dresser that he pulled open, were a few weaponry given to him from Master Splinter that Leo decides to store in his room, in case Mikey were to break into the Dojo and mess around with all of their weapons displayed within the room: Rope, a Yumi (bow) and a few arrows within a quiver, a miniature telescope that he found in the sewers a few years ago and a couple of shuriken.

Immediately catching sight of the shuriken, Leo snatched up three of them and placed them underneath his wrist wraps. He then grabbed for his miniature telescope and, after shifting his shoulders a bit to make an open gap between one of his shoulders and his shell, placed the mini-scope inside of his shell. It took him a while to get it right, but Leonardo has been able to figure out on how to store items inside his shell and to bring it out with ease, without causing any discomfort to either him or to his shell and when he's not hiding inside of his shell, despite turtles having their spines being connected to their shells.

_You know that Donnie will flip if he finds out that you've been storing items inside your shell, and then we'll go off on the many reasons why you mustn't be doing that._

_'Yeah, I know, but it's not like I'm going to be storing anything heavy, big or dangerous that'll cause harm to me.'_  Leo thought to himself, as he closed the dresser drawer back into its spot and getting to his feet as if he didn't grab anything out of his dresser and is going to come out empty-handed. _'Besides, since we're humanoid-turtles, only the bottom-half of our back and body is still connected to the shell, just as our plastrons are still connected to our chests and stomachs. So, even if the top-half of the shell still acting like it's connected to the top-half of our bodies whenever we bend over or back, we can easily pull away from it so that we can make a small-gap form between our shell and shoulders, without causing any discomfort or pain to ourselves or out shells. Anyway, since my miniature telescope isn't pulled out in its full length, then it won't bother me when I'm running or doing flips if my brothers and I are ever caught in another fight.'_

He then went over to the small-dresser to his bed, where he pulled open a drawer that held plain sheets of paper and pencils that he secretly stolen from Donatello's Lab and after grabbing for one of each item held within the drawer, the blue-banded turtle quickly drew out the logo that he seen on the van that took the family away before he was forced to let it go. Thanks to his sharp mind on keeping track of events that had occurred, whether it be from distress or signs of danger, which he believes that the substance from the canister somehow enhanced his memories when it merged with the wolf fur, it took him no more than six minutes to draw out exactly how the logo appeared as. After getting a full look at the drawing he just did of the logo, did the turtle noticed something familiar about it.

_'I know that I'd seen this logo somewhere before the van, but where?'_ Before he could try to find an answer to his problem by going through his memories, his door was swung open and Michelangelo quickly stepped into the room, startling the eldest turtle from the interruption caused by his baby brother.

"Leo, you need to come back to the Dojo!" The youngest brother hollered out, running towards his brother and slam a hand on the turtle's right-shoulder, forcing a startled yelp out of the eldest turtle and leap off of the bed and to, without warning, pin Mikey to the floor and glare him down. It took Leo a few seconds to see who was the culprit that had dared startle him from his trains of thought and quickly backed away from his stunned brother.

"Mikey?! How many times do I need to remind you to knock before coming into my room?" The eldest brother questioned, still keeping a glare at the youngest but reaching out to help his brother back to his feet. "Also, you know how much I don't like to be spooked or be jumped on without warning."

"But, Leo, this is urgent! Master Splinter told me to come and get you back to the Dojo; he made his decision on who's going to be leader of the team!" The news surprised the elder turtle, but quickly vanished when he felt like the information Mikey just gave to him shouldn't be that important if he left the Dojo.

"Mikey, I appreciate you coming here to tell me this, but I have no interest on having Master Splinter telling me who will be leader of our team when it should be pretty obvious that Raph will be leading the team." He told his brother, as he bent down to grab for the pencil and paper he temporarily discarded when he went to pin his brother to the floor and placed both items on top of his journal and sketchbook at the small-dresser next to his bed. "You can tell Sensei that I'll let Raph tell me about his new position as leader, and that I'll have no trouble or give any problems to Raph while he leads us." He then went to lay down on his bed and catch a few minutes of rest for his eyes, but Mikey grabbed for his injured-arm and made him winced a bit from the pressure closing in around his injury through the bandages Donnie had wrapped around the wound with.

"Sorry, bro, but Master Splinter told me to get you into the Dojo with us, no matter what the reason on why you won't come back to the Dojo and no excuses." Leonardo knew that whatever their sensei tells them to do and what not to do, they all have to treat his words as if they were the law, itself, on how they have to live in life. And right now, from the way Michelangelo just informed him on what Splinter wants the eldest turtle to do, he knew that he must respects the humanoid-rat's words and do as he say, even if the turtle is very reluctant to do so.

_'Gotta do what Alpha tells me to do, even if it's something that I wish not to follow or respect.'_  He reminded himself, knowing that both his instincts and conscience will constantly remind him of his position in the Hamato Clan and he does as he's told by his sensei, and learns to accept the fact he's doing as he's told by Splinter for the sake of the family until he gets his chance on leaving for his freedom. He then brought his right-hand towards Mikey's hand that still held on to his injured left-arm and gently, but a little firmly, pulled it off of him. "Alright, Mikey, let's head back to the Dojo." He then stood to his feet, made his way out of his bedroom, alongside with his youngest brother, and the two silently made their way towards the shōji and reentered the Dojo. Now rejoined with their other two brothers and sensei, the two went back to their spots they both took in when they first came in and bowed in respect to the rat, with Mikey staring up at their father like Donatello and Raphael, while Leo keeping his gaze down to the floor.

"Thank you for rejoining us, Leonardo." Splinter greeted his eldest, though his eyes looked a little hurt that the blue-banded turtle still refuses to meet his gaze. "I know it may seem like I could've made a rash choice and decision on who to pick as leader in just mere minutes, but I assure you that my meditation had helped me make the right choice on who shall be leading the team." He then took in a deep breath, letting out a deep sigh as if it were the guilt he's been keeping in within his heart. "And so, after being in a deep meditation and thinking through of the matter at hand, I came up with an answer." Raph, Don and Mikey leaned in a bit closer, as if thinking Splinter would go quiet if he told them his answer, while Leo simply stayed quiet and awaited for the answer he believes it shall be.

_'I hope you know what you're getting yourself into, Raph.'_ He thought to himself, putting up a small sad-smile on his face that tells of his worry and feeling sorry for the red-banded turtle once he goes through the stress and hardship he will face as the leader of the team. _  
_

"The one who shall be leader of the team..." Leo then slowly closed his eyes.

_'Here comes the answer...'_

"...Will be Leonardo."

**TBC**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as I told you guys from the last chapter, I'm not very good with describing fights. Also, I'm having trouble translating some of the words to Japanese and I don't think Google Translate is translating them correctly. So, Don't be mad if some of the words translated into Japanese is incorrect.
> 
> A whole moon, means a whole month (though, that's what my sister told me).
> 
> R&R


	4. The Task and Burden of a Leader

**Thirty Minutes Later...  
** "Explain to me one more time what we're doing here." Michelangelo whispered to his older brothers, as they all just stood or sit on a rooftop doing nothing but waiting for something to happen. The three older brothers all let out groans of annoyance at their youngest brother wanting them to explain the situation to him, for the tenth time in a row.

"Mikey, we've been over this." Leonardo told his brother, slowly and clearly, so that hopefully the orange-banded turtle could finally get what they're doing. "That building has the same logo as the van that was used to kidnap the family." He pointed a finger down to the building below them, which Leo was able to find the building after following the scent he and his brothers went to around the city while keeping a sharp eye on that logo. "So, if we wait here long enough, one of the kidnappers will eventually show his face. And when he does, we'll make him tell us where they took them."

"And then we got ourselves a van!" Mikey added in, getting pumped up on the thought of actually driving a real car instead of his video games that involves racing cars. Frustrated and regaining the headache, Leo face-palmed himself.

_'For once in his life, can't he take things a bit more seriously?'_

_Doubt that; he sounded very serious when he believes that you four will end up getting a van, in the process on attacking the kidnapper._

"Just hit the guy I tell you to." Leo told his brother, not wanting to deal with his youngest brother asking obnoxious questions about what they should with the van while they wait for the kidnappers to show up.

"Will do!" Mikey replied, giving him a thumbs up on a way of telling the eldest turtle that he actually understood what Leo wants him to do.

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Raphael asked the blue-banded turtle, having serious doubts that the turtle may had made an error of the logo being the spot where the van would return to and that the kidnappers could be someplace else. Leo turned his gaze to his brother, the look of being annoyed being gone and replaced by a calm face.

"To be honest, Raph, I'm not really certain if this'll work." He answered honestly, making the red-banded turtle confused and not very pleased at what he just said.

"And yet, we came here and are just waisting our times waiting for something that may or may not show up?" Leo narrowed his eyes at his brother, hearing the fury and impatientness building up from within the tone of Raph's voice.

**_Beta-Brother Raphael trying to question Pup's position as Alpha of team and to bring Pup down to Beta-Brother's Rank, no doubt even lower. Make Beta-Brother see reason and prevent fight to happen, or team will most likely divide._ **

"Unless you got a better idea on how to find them, this spot is basically the only place we have to take our chances with." He then turned his gaze back to the building below them. "It may take some time for something to happen, but we have to be patient and wait for them to come to us."  _'Because, unfortunately, the scent of the human girl and her father's now completely in the mix of the city's own scent and I can't smell my own blood anywhere except to the exact place where I let the van get away.'_ "We'll only wait for a few hours, three at the most, and if nobody shows up, then we'll leave and try something else. I have a back up plan if this plan doesn't work."  _'And it has better work, or we're screwed and it may take me awhile for the back up plan to take effect if this idea fails.'_

* * *

**Two Hours Later...  
** "Okay, I'm thinking of something green. Ga-reen. Ga-reen..."

"Is it Raphael again?"

"Man, you're good at this!"

While Mikey and Donnie played another game of I Spy, with Mikey using Raph to be the one thing or person he spies and sees, Leo continued on standing on the ledge and staring down at the building below them.

_It's already been two hours and nobody shown up. You and your brothers should leave this place and start using the back up plan._

_'Give me one more hour to see if they will and if they don't show up, then I'll try to put the back up plan in action.'_ Leo thought to himself, shaking his legs a bit to rid away the feeling of his legs falling asleep from standing still in the same position for a few hours.

_Speaking of the back up plan, how can you be certain that you can get the help from the pigeons and/or crows when you never made any communication with the birds at all in your entire life?_

_'...Again, I'm not really sure how. I guess you can call it an "instinctive communication" or something.'_

_...Gonna have to agree with Raphael about your plan; it doesn't sound like it's going to work, and even if it does somehow works, it may not end out the way you've planned it._

The blue-banded turtle clenched his hands into fists and grinded his teeth from his conscience's lack of trust in the turtle, and to not let out his anger while his brothers are with him.

_'Great, first Raph questions my decision of the mission, and now my conscience's agreeing with him. Well, excuse me for sucking at this job as leader of the team, but I never asked to be leader and if this plan does fail, then we can all thank Sensei for his choice on who to be leader!'_

**_Calm down, Pup! No one second guessing decision as leader of team; Beta-Brother and Omega-Brothers' merely just wondering if Pup's certain that plan will succeed and if Pup has any more ideas how to find kidnapped family if first plan doesn't work._ **

Taking his instinct's idea, the eldest turtle closed his eyes and took in deep, cleansing breath to tame the burning fire of anger and rage within his heart. In just about five deep breathing, the burning fire went down and his hands ceased their clenching before his nails could dig deep into his skin to have his palm bleed.

_'...You're right... Sorry about that.'_ Leo apologized in his head, his gaze back to the building across and keeping his hearing on his brothers to be sure they haven't left their post.

**_No need for Pup to apologize. No one blames Pup on having to take burden as Alpha-Beta of Pack._ **

_'...I just don't get it... Why did he made me leader? Why didn't he let Raph be the leader and leave me out of it, when I told them that I didn't want to become leader?!'_

* * *

**Flashback...  
** "The one who shall be leader of the team... Will be Leonardo." When Splinter spoke those three words, all four turtles were wide-eyed shocked from the startling news. However, out of all the turtles, none of the brothers were more shocked than Leonardo, who was not only startled from the news of him being picked as leader, but he also felt angered and sort of betrayed of his sensei picking him to lead, even when he has told him and his brothers that he didn't want to be leader.

_'Wh... What?'_ He asked in his thoughts, his gaze completely focused on the floor beneath him and his hands slowly clenching themselves into fists.

_Sensei said that you will be lea-_

_'I heard what he said! What I want to know is why he chose me to lead, when I just told him and my brothers, like seven minutes ago, that I didn't want to be leader!'_ He then felt a hand get placed on his right-shoulder, bringing him out of his thoughts and to, without realizing it and forgetting to show his submission, lifted his gaze to meet Splinter's reddish-brown eyes.

"I know that you shall lead the team to victory, my son." He told his eldest son, his eyes showing how much trust he's placing on his child to save that family and to lead his brothers to victory for whatever mission they will have to go through.

_'He can't be serious! There's no way that I'm going to be leader, and he can't make me!'_

_Father has made his choice on making you leader, and you're going to have to honor his wishes by being the leader_

_'...No... No! I don't want to be leader and I don't plan on taking that position at all!'_ With the feeling of his sensei's hand still placed on his shoulder and the reddish-brown eyes telling him that he'll make the humanoid-rat happy by taking the role of leadership, Leo lowered his gaze back to the floor and took a deep breath. "Sensei, though I feel honored that you would entrust me to have the responsibility as leader, I'm gonna have to refuse on taking the position and suggest that you give the role of leadership to Raphael." He could sense the three gazes of his brothers staring at him with shock and confusion, with Mikey and Donatello with the confused gazes, and Raph in the shock gaze. The rat simply stared down at the downcast gaze of his eldest son, then let out a deep sigh and removed his hand off of the turtle's shoulder.

"I'm afraid I cannot allow that, my son." Splinter informed his son, making the teen's anger rising within his heart. "I thought this through very carefully and have meditated to see who would be able to take on the leader position of the team, which lead me to the conclusion that you, and  _only_  you, can take the position."

_'Yeah, right. More like short and easy to simply pick me in just mere minutes, because you trained me the most and that I'm the eldest of my siblings.'_

_Maybe there could be a more reasonable matter to why he chose you to lead and not Raph._

_'Oh, yeah? Like what? Maturity? Clear-headed? More experienced? Because I didn't ask or think that I should be the leader?'_

_...Not really sure what reason he has, but Father has his reasons to make you leader and you should respect his choice of reason._

_'I'll respect his choice, if it's of something the_ ** _both_** _of us can agree on and this isn't one of those terms.'_ "Sensei, with all due respect, I insist that you should reconsider and make Raph the leader. I mean, let's face it: He has all that it takes to lead the team, and both Don and Mikey follow his every command. I, on the other hand, have no experience or knowledge on how to lead a team, which may cause us to fail or even put our lives at stake if I were to lead them... Also, I was sort of hoping that you would allow me to do a solo assignment for the mission."

Raph and Donnie both glared at their eldest brother at what he just said, while Mikey looked a bit sad and a little rejected on what his big brother just asked of their father to permit him to do.

"Hang on a second. You can't just ask Sensei to give you a solo mission; what about us?!" Raph yelled, making the blue-banded turtle wince a bit from the tone of volume of his voice that left ringing sounds in the turtle's left-ear.

"Raph's right, Leo; it wouldn't be fair for the rest of us if you get a solo mission and we don't!" Donnie butted in, also displeased by their brother asking for something that they all would want to do as well. "And also, why do you want Sensei to make Raph leader and not either me or Mikey? Well, actually, I can understand why you're not asking Mikey to be leader."

"Hey!" The youngest turtle whined out, glaring at the tallest brother. "I'm right here, ya know!" Feeling the headache getting worse, Leo closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, or beak, over his mask to try and control the rising ache of the migraine coming in.

_'If this keeps up, I'm really going to lose all sense of control and my head will most likely explode from all this noise and pain building up inside.'_  The blue-banded turtle lifted his gaze from the floor and turned to stare at his three brothers and gave them his own glare to show them his serious face. "Before I explain myself, you three shut your traps for a moment." By his command, and a bit stunned by their eldest brother giving them an order and a bit pissed off, the three younger turtles stayed quiet. "First off, when I asked Sensei on wanting to do a solo mission, I meant on having a solo  _covert_  mission. You know? After we find the kidnappers and have them take us to their hideout, I would go over and observe the enemy's territory, figure out what they're doing, and return to the team to inform them what I just discovered and to warn you three on what to expect from their base, before rushing off into a fight and rescuing the two humans." The three turtles all shared the same look of understanding when their eldest brother explained himself about the solo mission he requested for. "And Second... Donnie, the reason why I'm insisting Raph to be leader, is because he's ready to lead the team." The red-banded turtle lifted his head high and smirked at his brother's words, while the purple-banded turtle didn't look in the least satisfied.

"But what about me? I have what it takes to be a leader! Also, we don't  _always_  follow Raph's every command!" Emerald-green eyes glared at the genius turtle, forcing the second-youngest turtle to keep his mouth shut and shutter in fear of the possible chance of Raphael beating him until he surrenders.

**_Beta-Brother Raphael may have some qualities of being leader, but Beta-Brother's too dominant towards Kins and shows no compassion, unless Beta-Brother in good mood._ **

"Donnie, being the smartest of the group, doesn't automatically means you have what it takes to be leader." Leonardo told his brother, who seemed a bit confused on what the eldest turtle means. "Yes, it is true that a leader should plan ahead, but that doesn't mean a leader can have all the time he needs to come up with a plan, and to be honest, you're not really the fast thinker of the family; you take too much time on coming up with the perfect idea or plot and you get easily stressed when pressured."

"Not to mention, you rushed out into a battle, all because of some girl you just saw and drooled over of the sight of her appearance." Raph added, snickering when he got his younger-brother to blush and pout in embarrassment.

"Anyway... As for my reason for Raph to be leader: Yes, Raph does attend to rush into a fight, without thinking or coming up with a plan, besides beating some heads. And yes, he isn't really the smartest or could ever come up with a plan."

"Grrr..." The red-banded turtle turned his gaze to his eldest brother, who showed no sign of being afraid of the threatening glares of the emerald-green eyes.

"However, because of his strength and ability to both lash out and rush an opponent while in battle, makes him the perfect candidate on keeping the enemy busy, with Mikey doing some distractions and my assistance on helping out on the battlefield, while you, Donnie, can try to think up with a quick plan on taking the enemy down. Raph will also be able to protect or defend the both of you, if you need to buy some time or need a few moments to catch your breath from some wounds you may obtain." He then turned his gaze to the humanoid-rat, who had stayed quiet to allow his eldest child to explain himself and hear his reason to why he insist his first younger-brother should be the leader. "So, you see, Sensei, Raph has more quality and more experience on leading the team and would wish of you to make him the leader." Splinter had his eyes closed, absorbing all the information his eldest child just gave to him and his brother, as he slowly stroke his long-beard and try to come up with an answer.

_...He isn't going to agree to your terms... Father's still going to make you leader._

_'It has to work! Sensei knows that I speak the truth and that I'm right about Raph being able to take on the role of leader! It just has to work and he has to say yes!'_  The turtle bowed his head and closed his eyes, hoping that if his luck is to be on his side, he'll not only avoid being leader, but to be able to take a position that'll most likely bring him a step closer on gaining his freedom and having some alone time without his brothers shadowing him. However, deep down in his rage-burning heart and nearly untamable soul knew, long before Splinter ceased his thinking, that the answer the blue-banded turtle wanted to receive isn't going to come.

"Despite on your facts of Raphael to be the best choice to be leader and you being able to complete a covert mission, Leonardo, I'm afraid that I must refuse to both your proposal of a solo mission and giving the position of leadership to Raphael." His Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes snapped up wide from the news, feeling his hands clenching and the burning fire in his heart rising to a point where he believes his patience is now hanging on to a single thread that's about to snap at any moment.

"But, Sensei, please! I-!"

" **Jūbun'na** (Enough) **!** " Stomping the pointed-end of the cane to the floor, the eldest turtle snapped his mouth shut by the order of the rat and bowed to his sensei to show he was sorry and is begging for his forgiveness. "I understand that you don't want to be leader, Leonardo, and are trying to get me to have Raphael to take the position, but I'm afraid I have my own reason on not making him leader: Raphael may act like a leader to Donatello and Michelangelo, but he isn't ready to take the position as leader for something much more serious than a simple game of 'Follow the Leader' or trying to be the one always in control." Turning his reddish-brown eyes to glare down at Raphael, giving him a disappointing gaze that tells him he was pleased on how he made his second-youngest brother to keep quiet by using a threatening glare. "A true leader never forces a member of his team by using violence or threats to get them to do as he say, he must show compassion and understanding to his team and then he gives them an order, without being too forceful on them unless his team needs to know how serious or important his orders are." Splinter then turned his gaze back to his eldest child, who has once again refused to meet the rat's eyes. "You must understand, my son, that you, and  _only_  you, are the only one suitable on taking this responsibility and no matter how much you despise taking the position, you are the leader of this team and you shall take on the role I've bestowed upon you. Do I make myself clear?"

Silence was all the rat gotten from the turtle, for the eldest teen was using whatever will-power and strength he has within him to not snap and, to his horror, attack his sensei in order to release the burning anger within his heart and soul.

_'No... I can't do this! He has to realize that I can't do this!'_

_You heard what Father said and whatever he says, goes and must me carried out without question or hesitation... You know that you have to take this role and to respect Father's wishes, for it is one of the rules of Bushidō._

_'That stupid code of honor?... Is that why I'm putting up with his sh-?'_

**_Pup, Alpha's words is law and sacred. No one in Pack disrespects Alpha's authority or decision on how Alpha runs Pack, even if member of pack someday leaves Pack... Right now, Pup must honor Alpha's words, now that Alpha gave Pup rank of Alpha-Beta. Pup_ ** _must_ **_follow Alpha's orders and wishes._ **

Biting the inside of his lip as a distraction for his anger, Leonardo was able to calm himself enough to answer back to the rat.

" **Hai**...  _Sensei_." He forced out, keeping himself low and still bowing to show his submission to his master. Knowing that his eldest child shall fulfill the task and duty that he has given to the blue-banded turtle, Splinter nodded his head in satisfaction that his son shall take over the role of leadership of the team.

" **Guddo**  (Good)." He then turned to his three younger-sons, who had all stayed quiet during the conversation and looking a bit stunned on how it played out before their eyes. "You now have a leader on your team, and as such, you three our to follow and obey Leonardo's command. Do I make myself clear?" Quickly and immediately, not wanting to make their master angry, the three boys bowed.

" **Hai** , Sensei." They spoke in a unison, which they gained another nod from Splinter.

"Now that you have a leader, it is time you four head back to the surface and complete your mission: Find and rescued the kidnapped family." He then stomped his cane to the floor again, though it wasn't with much force like the last one had. " **Kyakka**  (Dismissed)!" Giving them his word to leave, the turtles got to their feet and swiftly went out through the shōji. However, just before he left the Dojo and heard Splinter has entered his own dorm from the sound of his own shōji door opening and closing, Leo whispered out a warning that not even Splinter would be able to hear.

**"Watashitachi no chi ga kon'ya o kobosanakereba naranai baai, sore wa anata jishin no te ni yotte okonawa rete ita**  (If our blood must spill tonight, it was done by your own hands) **."**  
 **End of Flashback...**

* * *

"Give it up already. The guy's not gonna show." Raphael's voice brought the eldest turtle out of his trains of thoughts, who now stood beside the blue-banded turtle.

_'Not now, Raph...'_ "We have to be patient." Leonardo told his brother, turning his gaze to meet the annoyed emerald-green eyes of the second-eldest turtle, then turning back to gaze back down to the building.

_He's not going to let you push that aside. You must make a decision, and quickly, before he tries to break up the team by taking the leader position._

_'Hey, if he wants to be leader, I'll gladly step down and let him lead. What's the problem with that?'_

**_Alpha chose Pup to be Alpha-Beta, not Beta-Brother Raphael, and as eldest pup of Alpha, Pup must respect and honor Alpha's choice and wishes._ **

_'...You're making it sound like Bushidō.'_

_Well, in some wolf ways of life, their rules are sort of like Bushidō._

"No, you have to come up with a better plan, 'cause the four of us standing here with our thumbs up our noses..."

"I don't think they'd fit." Mikey informed his older-brother, after examining the size of both his thumbs to be too big for their beaks.

"Is pointless." While Raph finished his ranting, Leo's sharp hearing caught the sound of a vehicle coming their way and when he looked down, he had a smirk on his face.

"You sure about that, Raph?" He asked his brother, his eyes narrowing with disgust but shining with satisfaction that his first idea on finding the car of the kidnappers has worked.

"He just showed up, didn't he?" To answer his question, the van that had taken the family pulled up in-between the two buildings below them and out came the slim-human. "I should've complained two hours ago." Leo let out a quiet chuckle at his brother's remarks.

_'So, this is what it feels like to wanna rub it in another person's face. Doesn't seem cool or fair when it's you that's been proven wrong, huh, Raph?'_

**_Now, now, Pup. Don't stoop to Beta-Brother's level; Pup more mature and better than to play Beta-Brother's games._ **

_Besides, right now you have a team to lead and it's about time to make your next move._

"You were right, Leo. One of the kidnappers actually came." Donatello stated, a little stunned that he was going to doubt his brother's guidance on how to find the kidnappers but was no longer having any of it, now that they have a chance to find the girl and her father. "What do we do next?" Gazing down at the van and seeing that the slim-human was the only one that showed, Leonardo knew that they could easily take him down and trap him within the alley, once he takes out one of the tires of the car with his shuriken. However, before he could tell his brothers what their next plan was, the hotheaded brother butted in.

"I know exactly what do to next." Raph answered the genius turtle and then, without paying any attention to his eldest brother and most likely going to ignore whatever he was going to say to him, he swiftly made his way down the fire escape beneath them and slowly came out of the shadows to frighten the human. Leo let out a low growl.

**_Foolish Beta-Brother, already not given an order and still goes to jeopardize mission._ **

_'I'll be sure to give him a good punishment in next training session. Right now, it's best we go with his plan and have him see what his rash decision will put the team to.'_ He then turned to Mikey and Don and, silently gesturing them to join their brother to the alley, watched his two brothers follow Raph's lead and slowly making their way to the stunned, slim-human, while he stayed put on the rooftop.

_What are you waiting for? Get down there and grab him, already!_

_'No... Not yet. I'm going to see Raph taking over the situation and, if I'm right, then they can easily take care of the human.'_

_And if you're wrong?_

_'Well, if I'm wrong, then I'll stop the human, myself, in order to fix my mistake.'_

"All right, buddy." Raph told the slim-human, who looked a bit scared on having to see giant humanoid-turtles slowly walking towards him and appear to want to snatch him for something he has or knows what they want. "We can do this the easy way, or... My vote... The hard way." Raph, Mikey and Donnie then swiftly pulled out their weapons, making a few warning bells ringing within Leo's head that they were going to do something stupid and that he should get down there to stop them.

"Yeah, look at it logically." Donnie told the human, getting a bit overconfident and not noticing the human reaching for something behind him. "There are four of us and one of you."

"Uh, Donnie, I think it's just the three of us." Mikey interrupted, looking up and seeing Leo had stayed up on the rooftop and glaring down at the scene before him.

"He's still here, Mikey, and is most likely just keeping an eye out in case this human's friends were to spring up on us. So, it's still the four of us against him." He then turned back to the human, smirking on how they were finally going to save that family, along with him most likely making friends with the girl he fell for. "What are you gonna do?"

_Uh, shouldn't you warn them about those weapons that the humans used to injure your arm?_

_'...I would, but I think it would be best if they learn to never underestimate our enemies or be overconfident on how easy they'll think the mission or fight will be.'_  Leo thought to himself, watching as the human swiftly pulled out a silver-shiny weapon that shot out the same kind of blast-energy that the black gun-like blasters did at his brothers, who all dodged from the blasts and landed up on the higher steps of the fire escape.

"You had to ask!" Raph yelled at Donnie, automatically blaming the genius turtle for having them be caught by surprised and allowing the human to retreat back into the car to drive away.

"He's getting away again!" Donnie hollered out, who seemed ready to throw in the towel as they watch the car veer over the curves of the sidewalk and back on to the street. As soon as the van went back on the road of the street, Leo took a few steps back and launched himself in the air, landing on the top of the building across that was higher than the roof they were just on.

"No, he's not!" He called out to his brothers, waving at them to follow him and without much of a complaint, the three younger-brothers scaled up to the roof and followed their eldest brother running and leaping over the rooftops to catch up to the slim-human.

**_Pup can easily stop human on own, since there's only one of human and won't have any of pack members to attack Pup and Kins while focus on keeping vehicle under control. Why wait Omega-Brothers and Beta-Brother to catch up and not allow self to run on all-four?_ **

_'Because, if I do that, they're going to get a bit suspicious about my constant bailing on them and if I were to keep doing that on them, they'll tell Sensei about it and then I'll be constantly watched over, just like when I was ten years old. Want me to go through enough repeat like that, which may result of me being held back for my chance on freedom?'_

**_...Good point, Pup._ **

_But the question still remains: How are you going to stop that car, when you won't use your actual speed?_

_'Leave that to the wind and a falling star.'_

Making the first move and landing on an apartment building, Raphael launched himself on top of the car and held on to both side of the top, startling the human when he heard and felt the thump and tried to shake the red-banded turtle off of his tail. After taking a hard turn to the left, Raph lost his grip and ended up being thrown against the side of a house. Luckily for him, his shell was tough and didn't even get a single crack or scrape, meaning that he was going to be bruised for a good while.

While the red-banded turtle laid in his spot to catch his breath a bit, the three remaining turtles were still hot on his tail and followed him from the high-left on the rooftops. Since Mikey has the most energy and speed (or so, that's what Splinter, Raph and Donnie thought), he was in front of the tracking team, with Donnie right behind him and Leo being at the back to save his energy for he will need it if they want to stop that car.

_You sure this will work?_

_'Like I told Raph, I'm not honestly sure. Just know that we only have three chances on stopping that van, which I hope it'll only take one shot to bring it down if I go for one of the front tires. If I miss and the car starts to get away any further, I'll have to take the risk on deserting my brothers and will have to bring the slim-human down by mere force.'_

**_Omega-Brother Raphael did that and end up being tossed aside._ **

_'Because he didn't use his Sai to keep himself on longer and thought he could use his own strength to break through the glass and make the human crash.'_ Leonardo then stared down at the van ahead of them and saw the human staring at them through the rear-view mirror and notice him reaching out for something in his car. The blue-banded turtle instantly knew what it was. "Mikey, Don, back away! He's reaching for his weapon!" He hollered out, and at the moment he finished his sentence, the weapon came out and started blasting at them. Following their brother's command, Michelangelo and Donatello leap away to the other side of the street, leaving the eldest turtle still hot on the human's tail. While he put on a bit more speed to catch up to the white-car, Leo shook his left-wrist a bit to have one of his shuriken to be held within his hand and in-between his small-finger and index-finger.  _'Okay, better time this right with the wind.'_ His then closed his eyes and listened very hard for the wind he knew that will help him stop the car with one, while using his sixth sense and sense of feeling to guide him across the building. The very moment he was in front of the edge and when he heard the wind starting to blow against him, he snapped his eyes open and launched himself in the air, tossing his shuriken aside and watching it being directed towards the van from the guidance of the wind... It swiftly reached its target: The front-left tire.

When metal-edge made contact through hard-rubber, burst of air gust out of the tire, forcing the car to swerve out of control. The human tried to regain control by pushing on the breaks, he even went as far as using his emergency breaks, but it wasn't enough to slow down the car and when he kept his eyes off the road for a mere second, the front of the car hit itself against a streetlight and forced the car to launch itself sideways and in the air. The car did two flips in the air, landed roughly on the back side of itself in-between the flips, and finally stopped itself by laying on its left-side, letting out a long car-honk that none of the humans could either hear or bother to come out and see what was wrong until it finally gave out and the headlights went off. Up above on a ledge of a wall, Leonardo smiled down in satisfaction that his capture of the car has been successful.

"Now we're getting somewhere." He said to himself, silently jumping off of the wall and making his way towards the shadow of a building closest to the fallen car.

_How should you approach the situation?_

_'We go around back; his heartbeat is still beating frantically, meaning that he's still conscious and scared that he's going to get caught. He'll try to sneak out around back in case we grab him at the front of the car.'_

_But what if he were still at the front of the car and is waiting to bail out the moment you four are at the back?_

_'Not a problem. The guys can go to the back and I will stay behind at the front, which we'll be able to caught off all his exit. And before you say anything about his weapon, it won't be of use to him anymore; I hear it letting out sparks and static, meaning that it most likely got busted up from the tumbling. He's completely defenseless and will soon be at our mercy to spare his life.'_ He then turned to his back, knowing that his brothers had finally caught up to him and to rejoin him on their capturing mission. He then stared at his three brothers, with all three of them making eye-contact with him. " **Senaka mawari iku**  (Go around back) **."**  He whispered out, earning a firm nod from the turtles and slowly stalk towards the fallen van, all with their weapons drawn out.

While Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo went to the rear, Leonardo jumped up to the top-side of the car and, using his trusting Katanas, sliced through the metal-door and tossed them aside to get a better view of the inside. Just as he suspected, the slim-human is wide awake and looked completely petrified at the sight of the turtle standing in front of his only exit of his destroyed van.

"P-P-Please, don't h-hurt me!" He cried, holding out an arm in front of him to uselessly defend himself in case the turtle was going to hurt him. Glaring down at the human and ignoring his cry for mercy, Leo sheathed his swords away and grabbed for the human's arm, keeping a firm grip in case the human were to try and resist but not too much force to avoid breaking the human's weak bone-structure. The moment his skin made contact with the human and while pulling him out of the car, the blue-banded turtle made a startling discovery.

_'...They're not human.'_ He thought to himself, as he tossed the human to the street below them and leaving him gasping for air, while he remained on top of the car to keep a firm eye on him in case he tries to run away.

_Who aren't human?_

_'Those men we were fighting earlier, the ones that grabbed the family... They're not human.'_

"Mom?" Mikey's voice and choice of word immediately gained Leo's attention, who launched himself off of the car and landed next to the youngest-turtle and behind the genius turtle. When he stared down at an object that Donatello held within his hands, the blue-banded turtle's blood started to boil and freeze at the sight of what he despise so much: A canister, filled with the exact same ocean-blue/aquamarine-green substance that the turtle will never forget that had turned his owner, or  _master_ , into a humanoid-rat, his brothers into humanoid-turtles, and secretly turned himself into a humanoid-wolf/turtle.

"So that's the..." Raph was completely loss to words, stunned that he would actually be seeing what the canister at their home actually held before it spilled all over Yoshi and them when they were normal creatures.

"Mutagen that turned us all into what we are now." Donnie finished for his brother, astounded that he finally gets to see what the substance in the canister at their home actually held and made them who they are. While Mikey suggested that they should drink it, with Donnie thinking it would be an idiotic idea and Raph teasing on how it may be an improvement if their youngest-brother actually get turned into a pile of goo instead of a super-mutant, Leonardo angrily glared down at the canister and wanted nothing more than to snatch it out of his brother's hand and force those four men, who he just discovered aren't humans, to feel the burning sensation of being turned into something they're not.

However, he pushed that thought aside and swiftly went back to the human he left on the street, who was trying to nurse the headache he obtained from the car accident and to wobbly get back to his feet. He then grabbed for the back of the human's white-tank top shirt with his left-hand and dragged him across the hard-surface of the street, as he made his way towards his brothers, who were now arguing with Mikey for bringing up the alien robots again.

_Don't they know that this isn't the time for bickering or arguing at the moment? You still have no idea where they're keeping the family._

_'I know that, but this human does and once we get him to talk, or better yet, shows us where the family's been taking to, we'll have our answer. But first...'_  Once he released his hold on the human's shirt,Leo placed two fingers against his mouth and let out a high-pitch whistle that stopped his brothers arguing and made them, including the human, to cover their ears from how high and painful the whistling irritated their hearings.

"Now that I have your attentions," he started. "As you all finally figured it out, Whoever kidnapped those people are somehow connected to what happened to us fifteen years ago. And though we made not know how it's possible... Mikey, let go of his face. He's not an alien robot." Leo ordered his brother without staring at him, who quickly let go of the human's face, who made out a few muffling sounds of pain when the orange-banded turtle tried to pull his face off for believing it was some mask to hide the alien robot body.

"Okay. He's in the clear. But those other guys were totally alien robots." Mikey told his brothers, not dropping this theory or belief that he in fact saw one of the human's body to be an alien body. After shaking his head silently, Leo continued on with his own theory.

"But this man may have some answers for us which could give us some clues about those people he was working with."

"Alien robots!" Mikey interrupted, earning a good smack against the head by Raph's fist.

"Enough already, Mikey!" The red-banded turtle groaned out, snatching the canister out of Don's hands and grabbing a fist full of the human's shirt. "Time to get some answers. Who are you, and what's goin' on?"

_Should we let Raphael deal with the interrogation? He did goof up on letting the human get away._

_'Raph may be a bit hardheaded and rash, but he knows better than to go to such extreme measures.'_

_Really? Because why is he holding the canister and looks ready to use it at his disposal?_

_'Most likely to use as a last result to scare the human into telling us the truth, by stating we'll turn him into a mutant if he doesn't tell us what we want to know... Again, I trust Raph to not actually turn him into a mutant.'_

_You better be right about that._

"Name's Snake, and I got nothing to say to you hideous freaks." The slim-human, now known as Snake, sneered out, glaring at the red-banded turtle's evil-smile when he showed that he wasn't going to squeal.

"Oh, well, that's 'cause you don't know us yet." Raph told the human, tossing him towards Donnie and Mikey, who both grabbed for his arms to prevent him from getting away. "See, we were just regular guys until we got hit with a little of this." He told the human, holding out the canister after removing one of the ends and waving the canister a bit, as if trying to figure out which side the substance should drip or fall out of.

"Wha-what are you doing?" Snake stuttered out, not liking the smirk on the turtle's face when he came up closer and tipped the canister in front of him to let a small trail of the substance come out.

"Playing a little game I like to call 'Mutation Roulette'." The trail of ooze started to glide down the glass and began to reach out for the human below it. "Now you could turn out handsome like me, or you might end up disgusting and deformed, like Mikey here."

"Hey!" The orange-turtle whined out, glaring at his brother for still teasing him of the way he looks because of his freckles or being shorter than the rest of his brothers.

"So, you feel lucky?" Without waiting for an answer, he tipped the canister all the way sideways, allowing more of the substance to pour out more and to simply dangle in the midair while ready to fall on top of the human before them. Leo let out a small warning growl, gaining Raph's attention and sending him a warning glare to not take it any further or to even attempt on actually mutating the human, who gave the blue-banded turtle a look that states to give him a bit more faith and trust on what he's doing before turning back to the scared-human below them.

"Okay, okay! I'll talk!" Snake hollered out, not wanting to be turned into a hideous freaks like the four turtles that now have him to their mercy. Getting the right reaction and having to enjoy himself on tormenting the human, Raph pulled the canister back and made the substance to trail back inside the canister. "They call themselves the Kraang. They been grabbing scientists from all over the city." Despite still being dissatisfied of his brother almost mutating the human in order to get the information out, he smirked that his trust in his brother has proven to be useful and that his brother assured him that he wouldn't betray his trust so simple as to stoop to their enemy's level.

"That worked pretty good," he praised his younger-brother.

"Of course it did. Would you wanna look like Mikey?" Raph asked his brother, still feeling in the mood to tease their baby brother for being a bit different than the rest of them because of his freckles.

"I'm right here." Michelangelo told his brother, feeling as if Raphael is purposely saying those things in front of him and actually pretending that he wasn't with them.

"What do they want with scientists?" Leonardo asked the human, giving him a firm glare to not lie to him or else he was really in for it.

"I don't know." Giving him a bit of a reminder and a warning, Raph waved the canister in the air and once again brought the look of fear back to the human's face. "All I know is they're taking them out of the city tonight, but I don't know where!" The red-banded turtle turned to his eldest-brother, knowing that he could easily tell if the human is lying to them or not, and when he received a firm nod that the human is telling the truth, Raph placed the nozzle back on the canister and sealing the ooze from getting out of its prison.

"This is awesome!" Donatello cried out, gaining confused looks on everyone's faces. "That girl's dad is a scientist. I'm a scientist. She is so gonna like me." Raphael gave him an annoyed look, Mikey simply shook his head, Snake gave him a good look that clearly says 'no way', and Leo narrowed his eyes with disapproval.

_You've got to be kidding... Seriously?! That's all Donnie can think of or come up, at this very moment?! Just because that girl's father is a scientist, doesn't automatically means she'll actually come to like him for being a scientist!... And why have this conversation, when you need to find out where Snake and his acquaintances took that small family to!_

"I don't think you're her type." Snake told Donnie, earning a glare by the purple-mask turtle.

**_Pup, Omega-Brother Michelangelo and Beta-Brother Raphael aren't only ones know Omega-Brother Donatello never be able to court female-human._ **

_'Can we, please, not think about that right now? We have a mission to do and we need to take care of it; time is of the essence.'_ "Where are they now?"

* * *

**Fifteen Minutes Later; Back to the Lair...  
** Snake's capture has brought some good news, but has also brought some bad news for the team: The good news, because they had forced Snake to talk and show the turtles where the small family was taken to, they now knew which building they'll soon-be breaking into and Leo to believe more to Mikey's theory of those men in black-suits could really be aliens in robot-bodies. However, the bad news, because of said youngest-brother inability to pay attention, they let Snake get away and most likely go off to warn those suspicious of their soon arrival. Luckily for them, both Raph and Leo knew he was hiding behind a dumpster and, rather than jumping up on him and once again keeping him captured, they decided to give him a false tip to deliver to the ones called 'the Kraang' about them using Snake's van to sneak into their secret headquarters by midnight. Now, the time was 11:45, which means they had only fifteen minutes left to get themselves to the headquarters and begin their mission.

While Raph went to chasing Mikey around for thinking it was adorable of him on how he was talking to Spike, his pet turtle, and with Donnie fabricated some Tegaki for them to use for stealth, Leo was in the Dojo and plotting out on how they should take care of the situation.

**_*Crash!*_ **

_"Ahh!"_

_"I'm gonna Shellac you!"_

Although, it was a bit hard for him to concentrate with all the screaming two of his brothers are making.

_'Can't there ever be a day where they can just be quiet for at least a few minutes?'_ Leo asked in his thoughts, as he tried to regain his focus on his plan. In front of him are a metal nut, a pencil, two chopsticks, a button, a dice, a tac and an eraser. The pencil and chopsticks formed as a triangle, picturing to be the walls of the building, while the metal nut sat in the center of the triangle, playing as the building most likely holding the its captives. The dice, tac and button are simply to cover the gaps in-between the chopsticks and pencil, which they may also seem to be the blind spots to the twenty men outside of the building guarding the place, which the turtles can use as long as they stay within the shadows and stay quiet. The eraser, held in Leo's right-hand, acts out as Snake's van, where they will use to distract the guards while they scale the wall and get themselves inside the building.

_That's good. And as long as your brothers keep quiet and don't give your position away, then you're all basically good to go._

_'That may be true, but the problem is the inside; we don't know what it's like and, from the size of the building, who knows where that family is being captured on which floor.'_

_...That is very troublesome, indeed. Not only that, but the unknown answer to how many of those 'Kraang' there really are._

**_Even with sharp hearing and strong sense of smell, who knows if Pup be able to track down female and Sire's scent._ **

_'And that's not the only thing I worry about. The one thing I'm more concerned about, is one of my brothers giving us away and for the enemy to find us.'_ The blue-masked turtle took a good look at his little plot before him, frowning when he knew that the possibility on getting that small family out, without getting caught, are about slim to none. Letting out a deep sigh, he made a mere decision.  _'We'll just have to play the rest of the plan by ear.'_

_And what if the mission goes wrong? What will you do then?_

_'...Like I've just said, we'll play it by ear. Once I come up with a back up plan in case something does happen, I'll let you know.'_ Firmly nodding at the little plot before him, Leonardo scooped the small items into his and stood up to his feet, making his way towards the exit of the Dojo to put the items back to their original spots before he brought them out.

"No plan ever survives contact with the enemy. It is how you react to the unexpected that will determine if you and your brothers succeed." Splinter told his eldest son from behind, offering the turtle another of his Words of Wisdom. The fifteen year-old ceased his steps for a moment, then turned to give his sensei a moments glance, then he nodded his head in understanding and then turned back to continue on his exit towards the shōji. However, a hand on the shoulder has once again prevented him from leaving the Dojo. "Leonardo, I know you are still upset and possibly angry with me for making you leader, and I do not blame you if you are angry at me. But, I want you to know that I made you leader for a reason." The Cerulean/Sapphire-eyed turtle would've been clenching his hands at this very moment, but he didn't want to give away that his sensei was right about him being angry at the humanoid-rat for making him leader, so he clenched his teeth and bit a part of his lip as a substitute.

"Yeah, and what reason is that?" He manage to speak out, without having any anger being sought out within his voice.

"That is for you to discover on your own." Splinter answered, not making the turtle feel any better or confident enough to feel he actually did earned the right to the role Alpha-Beta of the family.

_'Well, that's so much helpful.'_ He sarcastically thought to himself. "What if something goes wrong?"  _'Because if any of my brother's blood do spill, like I've silently warned you, then it'll be caused by your own hands for your poor choice of decision.'_

"Failure is a possibility every leader must face, Leonardo." Splinter then looked up at the tree that stood up mighty and proud next to them. "It is something I had to face in Japan during my final battle with my enemy, the Shredder." Leo's eyes widen when he heard his sensei's tone getting a bit gentle, which he knew what it means and wants nothing more than to yank himself out of Splinter's grip and make a beeline to his brother and leave the Lair.

_'Oh no, here comes another story that I already know about and prefer to not hear it all over again.'_

**_Sorry, Pup, but gonna have to listen to Alpha retelling Tragic Past._ **

_Father is still carrying the burden and pain he has to hold in his heart, and a listening ear, even if one who wish to not hear, is something Father needs at this moment._

Catching another quick glance at the rat and seeing the pain that still held within his reddish-brown eyes, the Cerulean/Sapphire-eyed turtle knew that his conscience and instinct are right.

_'Urg... Fine! I'll stay, as I always do, but next story he gives to us, either I'd heard it or not, I'm bailing out of it.'_

"Years ago, Oroku Saki, as Shredder was called then, had been my friend, but the love of a woman came between us. He could not accept it, and his jealousy turned outward in a vengeful attack." As he continued on with the story, Splinter lean in against the strong oak of the tree, with his drooped and the sadness he still held for the passed fifteen years very visible on his face. "And while he could not defeat me that day, my world fell and crumbled around me as the battle took the life of my beloved tang Shen, and I lost my baby daughter, miwa." Leonardo turned to face his sensei and took a small step or two towards the grief-stricken humanoid-rat.

_'If only Tang Shen were here with us, she would be able to tell him to let it go and convince him that it wasn't his fault that she and their daughter died.'_ He then lowered his gaze to the floor, now being affected by the sadness and grief the rat still held within his heart and carries as his burden.  _'If there were some way to turn back time and prevent all of that from ever happening, I would gladly take that chance and go back to change it, for Sensei.'_

_You do realize that if you were to somehow do that, then you and your brothers would live the rest of your lives as normal-turtles... Or better yet, you and your brothers would possibly cease to exist if you change and/or alter the timeline. Would you still go back and time and change that, all for the sake on making Father happy with his first family?_

_'...I'm not sure what my brothers would say, though I have a hunch that they would want to make Sensei happy as well if given the opportunity... So, yes, I would still do it, even if it means I'll cease to exist.'_

_...You're either speaking as a selfless person who would do anything to make other people happy, or as someone who actually wants death to come before them and welcome it with open arms._

"I lost many things, Leonardo: My family, my home, my name." Leo pushed aside his anger towards leadership for a moment.

"You basically lost everything." He muttered, not realizing how sad his tone of voice sounded to the rat, who turned to stare at his son's downcast face.

"I may have lost much of my life ever since that day." He then pushed aside his sadness, seeing on how the negative emotion can greatly inflict itself upon his eldest child, and then put on a smile on his face. "But I gained many things as well, like the four of you."

When he said that, the humanoid-rat placed a gentle hand on the turtle's right-shoulder, which got the blue-mask turtle to slowly look up and meet into his caring-gaze that told the turtle that despite having to lose what he lost to his enemy, he is and will always be grateful on having to get those turtles and to then have them become his own sons than to have them as just mere pets.

_Even though you wish for Father to be happy, from the look in his eyes, he seems pretty happy on having you four to have come into his life and to actually have a family to raise and love._

**_Every Alpha loves and care for pups, whether they Alpha's by blood or not, and will do whatever it takes to keep pups by their side for as long as Alpha can keep pups close._ **

"Don't worry, Sensei. We can handle this." Leonardo reassured the humanoid-rat, smiling gently back to his sensei and his eyes holding a promise glance that the four of them will return to him.

"Ahh!" Mikey cried out, running pass the rare-touching moment between father and his eldest son, wearing a bucket over his head as if it were to be a makeshift helmet.

"Get back here!" Raph demanded, still holding a wooden-spoon in his left-hand that he still uses to whack his screaming brother with. Both father and eldest son turned to stare at each other, then both closed their eyes and lowered their heads, with Leo placing a hand over his head that signifies that his killer headache is coming back and is most likely going to build up from the continuous screaming going on.

" **Watashi wa kore o shori shimasu**  (I'll handle this)." He told Splinter, calmly making his way out of the Dojo and after placing the items he brought out on one of the counters of the kitchen, he came to the living room, where he finds Raph pinning their youngest-brother beneath him and whacking the wooden-spoon on top of Mikey's uncovered head. Despite knowing that the red-masked turtle wouldn't really harm the orange-masked turtle, Leo still has to stop the fight from continuing on and get them ready to leave. He then, like he did after stopping Snake from driving away, placed two-fingers of his right-hand to his mouth and let out a high whistling sound that quickly placed its affect onto his two younger-brothers.

"What the shell was that for, Leo?!" Raph yelled out, trying to get the ringing out of his head, while the youngest-turtle crawled out of the red-masked turtle's grip and also trying to save his hearing from the shrieking cry his brother's whistle just gave to them.

"Because, one, to prevent you from damaging Mikey's brain. And two, because we need to get going; it's almost time." He then turned to the closed doors of Don's Lab. "Donnie, we need to get going! Are the Tegaki ready?!" The metal-doors of Don's Lab swung open and out came said purple-masked turtle, smiling in satisfaction and holding out four pairs of Tegaki, all fabricated and ready to be use.

"They're ready to go, Leo." He answered, earning an approval nod from his brother and a couple of knuckle-cracking from Raph, who looks ready to swipe the Tegaki out of Don's grasp and use them for more than just scaling up walls.

"Alright guys, here's the plan..."

* * *

**12:05; at Building...  
** "Wow, lucky thing that van showed up to distract them." Michelangelo said to his brothers, watching the men below them pondering on where the intruders were at and not being engulfed in flames with the van. Letting out an annoyed sigh, Donatello face palmed himself in the face, forgetting about the Tegaki still attached to his hand.

"Ow!" Donnie cried out, though he wasn't loud enough for the men below them to hear from the fire burning through the metal of the destroyed van.

"That was the plan, Mikey." Leonardo told his brother from above him, reminding the youngest-turtle, again, on how and why the van was there. "We knew snake was hiding in the alley, so Raph and I made him think we would be in the van."

"But we weren't in the van." Mikey pointed out, still being confused on what was going on. The blue-masked turtle shook his head to himself, not wanting to go into more details with his youngest-brother who still won't get the whole thing, even if the eldest-turtle were to give him more of those details.

"Just keep climbing." He told the orange-masked turtle, and continued on scaling up the wall.

"Can do." Mikey replied, getting himself on top of the wall with the rest of his brothers.

Once they were over the wall, they stuck themselves to the shadows, swiftly and silently making their way towards the building and, after finding an air vent a few feet away from the ground, they once again used their Tegaki to climb up the wall and soon found themselves within the vents. Thanks to Leo's sharp hearing and a few routes to take through the vents, the turtles found themselves standing over another air vent that shows them to be in some sort of hallway. Then, hearing two sets of footsteps coming their way and not hearing any more sets of steps coming or around their location, Leo nodded his head to Raph, letting him know that they can spring out of their hiding spot and beat the two men as his heart desires, as long as he doesn't overdo the extent of injury he'll deliver to their enemies. The fall of the vent caught the two men's attention and when they looked up, saw Raph and Leo jumping out of the vent and were soon being tossed aside and beaten to the floor by the two strongest turtles on the team.

After a good eight strikes from each of the two turtles, the two men were down and it doesn't look like they'll be getting up any time soon.

Looking up at the vent to his two remaining brothers, Leonardo firmly nod his head and the two youngest-turtles hopped out of the vent. For safety measures in case any more enemies were to show up and having a hunch they will bring those unknown weapons of theirs, the blue-masked turtle drew out Musashi and Kamiizumi, to use for reflecting or blocking out the energy blasts that were to surely come their way.

"Wow, I've never seen anything like this." Donnie stated, leading the team down a hallway and being too fascinated at the technology surrounding him. "They're using a metal alloy that I don't even recognize." While Mikey and Leo walk pass the genius turtle, Raph came up beside him.

"Gosh! A metal alloy even you don't know about! It boggles the mind." He sarcastically stated, which was his own way of telling his brother that now isn't the time to go sightseeing or distracted by his new discovery.

"Dude, you wanna talk metallurgy with me? Bring it."

_'Not now, you guys. Please, Not. Now!'_

_Looks like you were right, about being worry about your brothers most likely going to blow your cover._

"I don't, and-"

" **Gaizu**  (Guys)!" Leo whispered a bit loudly, cutting off to what Raph was going to say to Donnie. "Have you two already forgotten that we're in an enemy's lair? Now is not the time for you two to bash heads with each other. We got a mission to complete." Knowing that their brother is right, the two ceased their fighting and followed their leader down the hallway to meet up with their youngest-brother, who was leaning against the way and staring at another end of a hallway to find something that Raph and Donnie had told him he was imagining: Six, alien robots stood in the center of a crossway hallway, all carrying the same kind of weapons that one of the men in black-suits shot Leo with.

"Whoa. Alien robots." Donnie gasped out, not believing on what he's seeing at this very moment.

"Alien robots, huh?" Leo, who was crouching low to the floor and in front of his youngest-brothers, knew that their cover was going to be blown when he heard Mikey repeating what the purple-masked turtle just said.

"Mikey, don't." He whispered out, but the youngest-turtle didn't hear his command.

"Hmm, where have I heard that before? Oh, yeah!"

**_Silence Omega-Brother's trap of mouth!_ **

"I've been saying it for hou-!" Though the turtle was able to cut off his sentence, Leo wasn't quick enough to stop Mikey from blurting out, for he had to hold one of his blade in his mouth to let one of his hands be free and use it to slam it over the youngest-turtle's mouth, that caught the alien robots' attention. After giving Mikey a glare that sent chills down the turtle's shell and spine, leo reclaimed Kamiizumi back into his left-hand from his mouth and sprint after the robots, who all let out massive shots of the energy blasts at the four turtles.

As they dodged the many blasts of the weapons, Raph brought down one alien robot at the far-right, while Leo took down one at the far-left, allowing Mikey to whack a blue alien robot to the floor and sending a good spin-kick to a second blue robot. Donnie, who caught up behind the orange-masked turtle, whacked a silver alien robot that was trying to get back to its feet twice in the head, then slammed the midsection of his Naginata Bō staff at the throat of the robot and flipped himself over the robot's body, lifting up the robot with the Bō staff still against the throat and tossing it in midair. Raph, who pinned his opponent to the ground and twisting an arm behind its back, gabbed his Sai into the robot's head, instantly shutting it off. Another robot came up in front of him and was ready to fire, but the robot Donnie threw in midair slammed into the shooter's head, giving Raph the opportunity to grab for its arm, flip it over his shoulder and gab his Sai into its head like he did with the last one.

With only two of the robots left to take care of, Leo made quick due with the last two. He took down one by ducking away from the blast, having to watch and notice that the aliens don't appear to have that much good of an aim unless their opponents are staying completely still long enough to get a perfect at them, then using a black pipe to help give him a little boost to jump in the air high enough to slice through the neck of the robot. The second robot, who chose to simply shoot straight on ahead instead of moving his aim around and hope to get a lucky shot, got blinded in the eye after Leo reflected one of the energy blast back at it and in that split second of distraction, Leo was once again in the air and twisted himself to cut from the left-shoulder down sideways to the right midsection where the human ribcage would be at. The two pieces of the robot fell and crumbled to the floor, followed by a sound that sounded like it was shutting down and ended with a hiss, as if it were releasing something.

Suddenly, six tentacles sprung out of the robot and when it lifted the rest of its body out of the cockpit of the robot body, the small-alien turned at the turtles and let out a screech-like scream at them. Just as Mikey has been telling his brothers, the alien looks like it was an abnormal-size brain, with small fang-like teeth that don't appear to be strong enough to tear into flesh unless it was a child they were to go after, and lime-green/yellow eyes with sideways slit-pupils. Raph and Donnie screamed from the sight of it, while Leo made quick do at knocking it out by using the hilt of Kamiizumi to gab it on top of the alien's head.

**_Omega-Brother Michelangelo and Pup right all along: Attackers aren't humans, but aliens inside metal-body._ **

_'Which also means that those four men that turned us into mutant-animals, aren't the actual cause of our existence; it's the one who created the substance, the_ **_Mutagen_ ** _as Donnie dubbed it to be, and is having his workers passing it around that could cause harm to innocent lives if held in the wrong hands.'_

"See? See? It's a brain thing!" Mikey exclaimed, holding the unconscious alien upside by grabbing ahold on four of its tentacles and waving it around as if it were an oversized water balloon. "I told you! I told you! But did any of you believe me? No! 'Cause you all think I'm just some kind of bonehead!" The blue-masked turtle folded his arm in front of him and glared with annoyance at his brother.

_'First off, Mikey, not all of us said anything about you being right or wrong about the aliens. And second, you are a bonehead when it comes to you continuously spewing out words while we try to stay in stealth mode. And third... You just woke up the alien from being knocked out.'_ Just as he thought, the alien snapped its eyes open and, finding itself hanging upside down and in the clutches of one of the turtles, let out a shriek and made a quick grab for Mikey's arm, chewing biting down at his thick flesh as hard as it could.

"Ow!" He then held out his arm straight, completely baffled at how the alien still tries to take him on without the use of his robot-body, and then tried to shake the alien off of his arm when he thought that it was trying to eat him. "Uh! Ugh! Ah! Ah!" When he used his other arm to put a space between his trapped arm and the alien and tossed his trapped arm to the side, the alien finally let go of him. However, when it hit against the wall and slide back to the floor, its body pressed into a button, which let out an alarm and the whole room flashed a very-bright pink color. From afar places of the building, Leo heard many footsteps ceasing their movements and then heard them making a run towards the south-part of the building. The alien, that was now on the floor, let out another shriek and then scurried off to either warn its friends where the intruders are or to get into a new robot-body and once again take them on.

"Mikey!" The three older brothers yelled, glaring down at him on having to blow their cover.

"Okay! But I was still right about the brain thing. You gotta give me that." Mikey told his brother, still trying to make a point that he was still right about aliens.

Leo turned his head towards the hallway the alien took to make its escape, hearing the approach of the robots coming their way. He was about to get his brothers to lead them back to the vent they came from, when his nose picked up two distinctive scents that he immediately recognized and to the reason why they're putting their life on the line for: The father and daughter.

_'They're still here, which means there's still time to free them!'_ He thought to himself and, without thinking on warning or telling his brothers, he took off towards the direction the trail of their scent leads him to.

**_Quickly and Godspeed, Pup; scents towards direction where footsteps are heading for._ **

_No doubt that they're going to speed up their schedule on taking them out of the city._

"Leo, wait up!" Mikey cried out, as he, Raph and Donnie followed the blue-masked turtle from behind and all wondering why he simply took off to a random direction, which Donnie believes to lead for something important from the power conduits converging in the direction their eldest-brother is heading for. Six seconds on running down the hallway, the flashing lights ceased and the odd siren-noise went deaf. The trail of the scent eventually lead him to a big-black door on the right-side of the hallway, where through the single-window, Leo could see both father and daughter standing in the center of the small-space room that he believes to be some sort of cell, both looking rather confused on what the siren noise and flashing-pink light was about. Coming up from behind him, the bō staff wielder also looked through the window.

"We found 'em!" Donnie informed Raph and Mikey, which quickly caught the family's attention and staring completely startled at the two turtles looking through the window. Leo's sharp hearing immediately caught sound of something charging and knowing what that sound meant, he brought up his Katana and blocked the first few energy blasts that would've most likely gotten his genius brother if he hadn't intervened. From down the hallway they ran through, a few more alien robots came running towards them.

"We'll hold them off! You pick the lock." Leo quickly ordered his third brother, before he rushed off after the robots running towards them and knocking two of them down and finishing off the third on his own, leaving Raph and Mikey to quickly damage the last two suits to prevent them from working and leaving the aliens defenseless. While more footsteps made their way, the blue-masked turtle turned to see how Donatello was doing on that lock. However, when he saw that his brother was too busy talking to the girl and not working on that lock, he grew pissed that his brother was not only following his order, but appears to be wasting their time

_What is he doing?! He's supposed to undo the lock, not have a friendly chit-chat with that girl while in the middle of a battlefield!_

**_Omega-Brother Donatello not only jeopardizing mission, but also putting Omega-Brother Michelangelo, Beta-Brother Raphael and human family in danger, all to simply get to know girl Omega-Brother's trying to court! Inexcusable and unacceptable! Put Omega-Brother Donatello back in place and remind Kin who's Alpha-Beta of team, Pup!_ **

Sheathing up Kamiizumi in its sheath and clenching on tightly to Musashi in a death grip, the turtle's anger and instinct on punishing his brother grew until his control over his anger broke.

_'I'm sorry, Don, but you left me no choice but to do this! Know that this is for your own good!'_ With swift speed like the wind itself, Leonardo came up next to his brother and, without warning or thinking of the consequences he'll be facing from Splinter when he hears what he did, rammed him against the door and grabbed the back of Donnie's neck with his left-hand, forcing the turtle into submission and pushing him down on his knees to the panel that controls the door of their cell. "Don. The lock. Now!" After screaming out his last command and giving him a deadly glare that told the purple-masked turtle to not take his orders lightly, released his hold on the turtle's neck and reclaimed Kamiizumi back into his left-hand, charging at the other robots that Mikey knocked over with his Nunchakus to make quick cuts into the bodies.

More footsteps came towards them from the other end of the hallway, and the blue-masked turtle made a quick run towards them, assisting Raphael on bringing them down with the quick swipe of his Katanas and mere force of charging from his enhanced speed. Getting a quick glance to his genius brother and seeing how he's still trying to get the lock undone, along with hearing three sets of footsteps from through the wall, the turtle knew time is running out for the human. Turning his attention to Raph, who kicked away his opponent and stood a few inches behind the purple-masked turtle, he made a quick decision.

"Raph, switch places with Donnie and get that door open!" Also mad and frustrated of his brother taking his time on undoing the lock, Raph shoved Don away from the lock and, taking out of his Sai, jabbed the panel a few times until it let out a few sparks and then made a buzzing sound, which then followed by the door pulling itself open for the turtles to get into the cell. Right when they gotten the door to open, they were too late on saving the father and daughter, as they were carried off to another hallway that leads them to outside of the building and to where a helicopter was waiting for them to be taken off to who knows where.

The four turtles followed to the direction where they heard the girl let out her terrified shriek, while trying to outrun the continuous arrival of alien robots shooting them down with their weapons. They finally made their way out of the building and outside, but they were still being followed and targeted by the aliens. While Raph went to closing the two doors, Leonardo planned on using Kamiizumi to hold the door down by placing it through the handles to prevent the doors from opening from the inside, but turned out that he won't be giving up his sword after Raph ruthlessly yanked an arm off of a robot and placed it through the handles of the door as a makeshift padlock. Once that problem was taken cared of, the turtles refocused their attention back to the captured family, as they were forced to make their way towards the helicopter at the very top of the building. Before they could get to them, something else stopped them from reaching their goal.

It was giant and green, has multiple vines with thorns that, from what Leo could smell, are venomous. A praying mantis-like head, stands on two stem-like legs with large toes on its feet and seems to have exposed bone-like shapes. Tendrils that resemble Venus flytrap to most likely be its hands and arms, and an exposed heart that's partly wrapped within the green-skin located between the neck and the top of its chest. It let out an odd shriek that would mistaken him for a giant bat, which was followed by a hiss that sounded very similar to a snake.

"You did this to me! Now you're going to pay!" The voice was high and hissy when the plant-like creature spoke, which the Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes turtle immediately recognized as the slim-human.

"It's Snake! He mutated into a... Giant weed!"  _'...Alright, something about what I just said sounded a bit off.'_

_You mean that the human got mutated into a plant, while he has antennae, pincers, and bulbous eyes that makes him look more like some sort of deformed insect?_

_'Well, that, and to the fact I made it sound like he's going to be hard to take on if he's now some sort of insect-plant mutant.'_

**_Best heed warning and distress, Pup; never underestimate preys or enemies, no matter how they may seem under Pup or be of no threat when on battlefield._ **

"That's weird. You'd think he'd get mutated into a snake." Mikey stated, not really getting on how or why the human ended up as a weed mutant.

"Yeah, you would, if you were an idiot." Raph told his brother, thinking on why the orange-masked turtle would think someone would mutate into an animal they're named after if that certain animal isn't the last thing the person would touch before the Mutagen changes their appearance.

"But his name is Snake."

"So?"

"You don't understand science." Leonardo gave his brother an odd look at what he just said, while turning his attention back to newly-mutated Snake, who was finally able to free his feet from the ground.

_'What does science got to do with Snake being a mutant weed and not a mutant snake?!... Scratch that, why are you two even having this conversation when we're still in the middle of a fight?!'_

"I'll crush you turtles!"

"Uh, would it help if we said it was an accident?" Donnie asked the mutant weed in a nervous voice, not feeling very comfortable on fighting something or someone taller than school bus. To answer his question, Snake let out his two pincers out, snapping them together and ready to either grab or even attempt to rip flesh.

_'Does that answer your question, Don?'_ The blue-masked turtle asked in thought, baring but clenching his teeth together at the large mutant, warning him that he wasn't going to back down or let Snake scare him because of his height. The purple-masked turtle backed away.

"So, heh, I'll put you down for a no?" Snake then leaned back a bit, holding back one of his pincers behind him, which let out an alarming ring in Leo's head.

**_Jump!_ **

By his instincts command and when Snake brought down his pincers to whack the turtles aside, Leo leap over the pincer to dodge the attack, along with Donnie doing the same but narrowly getting hit by the extended pincer. Raph and Mikey weren't so lucky or able to dodge on time, and both were forced down to the ground, a little stunned and a bit bruised from the impact but nothing to serious to prevent them from fighting or defending. Crouched down to the ground when he landed, Leo sheathed Kamiizumi and now clenching on to Musashi with both hands, launched himself after the appendage that attacked his brother and brought the blade down to slice through flesh and plant.

Snake let out a shriek of pain when the turtle cut through his arm as if it were smooth butter, as purple-blood gushed out of the wound and splattered all over the ground.

"Eww! Eww!" Mikey cried, crawling away from the blood that would splash where he was just at. "Don't let it touch me! Don't let it touch me!" When he took one more crawl back, little bits of the blood landed on his leg. "Aah! It touched me!" Landing back to the ground, Leo flung his sword to the side to rid of the blood off of Musashi.

_'It's not like his blood is now some form of acid, Mikey, otherwise it would've left holes in the hard concrete ground or burn the skin off your flesh. It could've even be able to eat through the blade of Musashi and leave me with only the hilt of my sword, but my sword is still in full condition.'_

_Better not think that this fight's going to be easy. Look!_

As his conscience told him, the turtle turned his attention back to his opponent and saw that the appendage he just cut through has immediately grew back a new pincer, fascinating and astonishing the mutant-weed on seeing the gift that his mutation has bestowed upon him.

"It grew back? No fair!" Donnie cried out, now scared and panicking that they won't be able to bring Snake down when he can simply continue to regrow any of his limbs if they were to keep on cutting him down.

_'Huh, it actually makes a lot of sense, since weeds have the ability to regenerate when they're cut down. As long as the source of its root is still intact, then it'll keep on regrowing itself.'_ His hearing then caught the sound of a chopper preparing itself to take to the sky, which happens to be the very helicopter that's holding the family.

**_Getting away! Pup must go after it!_ **

_Wait! You can't leave your brothers to take on Snake on their own; none of their weapons are considered strong enough to take him down, even if Raph's Sais are designed to jab, Mikey were to use his Kusarigama and Don to use the hidden blade of his Naginata bō staff. You have to stay and fight!_

_'I know that!... I know who needs to go after the chopper.'_ "Donnie! Go! Fastball Special!"

Leo quickly sheathed Musashi into its sheath and placed both his hands down, preparing himself to give his brother a quick lift up to the top of the building. Originally, he would've had Raph give their brother a lift, but he and Mikey were too busy keeping Snake occupied and with the chopper preparing itself to take off, there wouldn't be enough time for the two eldest turtles to switch places. So, after placing his bō underneath the strap over his shoulder, he took off after his brother and once he implanted his right-foot into the cupped hands of Leo, he was hurled in the air and found himself a staircase away from reaching the platform of the helicopter and immediately made haste.

While the genius turtle made it his duty to rescue the humans, the other three turtles went into cutting and bringing down Snake, which wasn't an easy job to do, considering that the limbs would instantly grow back and with him having four vines to be like extra sets of hands and arms, he's proving to be a real problem and challenge for the three turtles.

"Snakeweed is really powerful!" Mikey cried, after he and Leo helped Raph to his feet after being tossed aside by one of the vines Snake's pincers let out. He was lucky that the vines within the pincers didn't have any thorns at all and that Snake has been whacking the turtles aside instead of using the thorns to cause actual damage, otherwise they would've been poisoned and make the situation much worse if one of them were to have toxic pumping through their bodies.

"Snakeweed?" Raph questioned, thinking of the name to be one of the most ridiculous things he ever heard and made up from the orange-masked turtle.

"Yeah! His name was Snake, and now he's a weed, so-"

"We get it!" Raph interrupted, not feeling like arguing with their youngest-brother about renaming Snake when they're fighting for their lives. Leo, meanwhile stood in front of his brothers and kept his glare at the red-eyes of Snake, while trying to catch his breath a bit and to figure out how to defeat the mutant weed.

_You were right to feel distress and cautious about Snake's mutation._

_'Oh, you think?'_ His vision blurred a bit, but he shook his head to rid away the dizziness he was feeling build up.

**_Hang in there, Pup. Can defeat mutant-weed; must find weak-spot and figure out a way to bring mutant-weed down that doesn't involve being able to regenerate._ **

_'That's going to be hard to plan. As for the weak-spot, I think I may have found it.'_ His eyes then stared at the beating-heart of Snake, partly wrapped within the skin but standing out wide and open for anybody to take a shot out of it.  _'The only problem on attacking his weak-spot are the vines, but if Raph and Mikey were to keep him distracted for more than a few seconds, I can try to go in for the kill.'_  "We just have to hold it off until Donnie gets back." He informed his brothers, knowing that it may take the four of them to keep Snake busy and for one of them to go for his heart that may possibly be his weakness to permanently bring him down.

Unfortunately, the door that Raphael locked up by using a robot's arm to seal the handles with gave out and a bunch of the robots came running out, aiming their weapons at both the turtles and the mutant weed.

_'Oh, great, more problems to add in our problem.'_ "While not getting shot by alien robots."

"With brains!" Mikey added, still trying to get his brothers to tell him that he was right.

"Let it go, man." Raph told the turtle, tired on having to be reminded that he and Don were wrong to criticize him when he told them his reason on why he didn't chase the van with the two turtles.

"Raph, you take care of Snake!" Leo ordered, unsheathing Kamiizumi to have it rejoin the battle with its brother, Musashi.

"It's Snakeweed now, Leo!" Mikey hollered out, bring out his Nunchakus and already whacking away some of the robots.

"I don't care what's he called now, Mikey! You help me deal with the Kraang that are shooting at us and let Raph try to take care of Snake, until I come up with a plan!"

_You sure are giving out a lot of orders, and on your very first mission on top of that, you notice?_

_'Not now! Later!'_ Anger coursed through his heart, giving him the extra energy and strength to cut down the robots that try to shoot him or his brothers down, which was what his conscience had planned to do when it noticed how tired the turtle was starting to get the longer they continued on to fight. And to prove a point, Snake brought out one of his pincers and whacked everybody off of their feet, including the fleet footed Leonardo.  _'Damn it! I don't know how much more we can take of this and with Donnie still dealing with the Kraang in the helicopter, we're in way over our heads.'_  He struggled to get himself off the ground, as he retightened his grip on Musashi and Kamiizumi. _'I was afraid my warning to Master Splinter was going to come true, that our blood will be spilled under my leadership... At this rate, I'm gonna have to order my brothers to head back to the Lair and to turn this into a suicide mission.'_

"What's the plan again, Chief?" Raph questioned his brother, also picking himself off the ground.

Before Leo could answer, a vine came up from behind him and the moment it wrapped itself around his right-ankle, it lifted the turtle off the ground and held him out in front of Snake, who tried to figure out on how he should dispose of the turtle who was the first to injure him while swinging him around in the air. While still hanging upside down, Leo heard the sound of continuous buzzing and, when he turned his head towards the direction of the sound, he saw multiple tubes of the power conduit that Donnie stated to lead for something important, which leads to a some sort of high-tech power generator.

_'If I can get Snake to that power generator and have the Kraang rupture it with their weapons...'_

**_It may be key on how to bring down mutant-weed._ **

_But how are you going to get him to that power generator and keep him there long enough for the Kraang to rupture it?_

_'It's simple... By doing a suicide mission.'_ "Raph! Mikey!  **Senaka mawari iku!** " Getting a firm nod from both turtles, though not truly knowing what their leader is planning on doing, they both charged at Snake and attacked his legs after getting behind him, distracting him long enough to allow Leo to cut at the vine that trapped him upside down and have himself back on solid ground. He then turned his attention back to the Kraang, who were all getting back to their feet and collecting their weapon, which gave him a quick-thinking addition to his suicidal plan.  **"Sono hatsudenki ni sunēku o eru ni sorera o najiru**  (Taunt them into getting Snake to that power generator!) **!"**

"What?!" Raph hollered out, not liking to where his brother was planning on doing.

**"Chōdo sore o okonau**  (Just do it) **!"** Leo yelled out, sheathing his two swords away and pulling out his own Tegaki and cutting into the back of Snake's left-leg to distract him while his brothers taunt Kraang into aiming their weapons at the mutant weed and forcing Snake to back up against the power generator.

_This is nuts! You'll get yourself killed if you don't get out of the way in time from the blast!_

_'That's why it's called a "suicide mission" and don't worry, I have no intention on dying.'_ He thought to himself, ducking behind the giant weed mutant to avoid the blast until Snake was close enough for Leo to make his mark, which he did by bringing down his Tegaki and digging straight down sideways on Snake's back. He then clenched his left-hand into a fist and brought it out towards Snake when the mutant turned to see who it was that dared to attack from behind, landing a perfect punch at the barely protected heart.

Snake let out a hissing-shriek from the harsh impact to his heart, kneeling and hitting his head on the power generator when Leo jump on top of his head and stood on his large back. He then brought out his two remaining shuriken and tossed them towards two heads at two random robots in order re-taunt the remaining Kraang into shooting at the turtle and the power generator. The sound of sparks building up was the only signal to have the blue-masked turtle to jump off of Snake and rejoin his three brothers, along with the human girl Donatello was able to rescue, to watch electricity coursing through Snake's body for a full four-seconds before it caused him and the power generator to explode. Parts and remains of Snake rain down over the battlefield, bringing a major relief for three of the turtles and to the human girl that the fight was over. However, Leonardo knew that now wasn't the time to celebrate.

Putting away his Tegaki and waving his hand to signal the others to follow him, they silently and quickly left the building and made a run back to the city, knowing that their mission is finished but isn't a complete success.

* * *

**Back in the City; April's Aunt House...**  
"Are you gonna be all right?" Donatello asked the human girl, who has introduced herself to the rest of the turtles as April O'Neil.

"I guess," she solemnly answered. "My aunt says I can stay here as long as I want, but I'll be a lot better when I track down the creeps that took my dad." Leonardo, who sat above the balcony of April's bedroom window, stared down at the girl with sorrow he felt for her suffering, then turned back to stare at the city and the stars above them.

_Poor girl... She shouldn't have to go through all of this._

_'Agreed; she is pure and innocent, like Mikey. She committed no such sin that would have her lose her parent by aliens.'_

**_She-Pup April seeks vengeance of Kraang for taking Sire away from her. Shall be best if Omega-Brothers, Beta-Brother and Pup help She-Pup April find and rescue Sire, before She-Pup April gets over head._ **

Leo cocked his head to the side, confused on what his instinct just dubbed April as.

_'"She-Pup April"? Why give her title as if she's Pack?'_

**_She-Pup April now involved in war Pup and Pack shall soon be fighting in, meaning She-Pup will be human-ally and soon, sister-in-arms. Pup's fight now She-Pup's fight, least until Pup and Pack brings back She-Pup's Sire._ **

The blue-masked turtle let out a low growl, preventing on having to catch the other turtle's attention.

_'Whoever said that she's actually going to be our friend, let alone a new member into our Clan? Our Pack? She may be innocent and pure, but she has not earned my trust or approval to make her part of the family. It's because of her that Donnie nearly cost us the mission while rescuing her and her father, even if she doesn't know or mean to be a distraction to Don.'_  He then closed his eyes and lifted his head towards the sky, inhaling the peaceful breeze of the wind brushing against his forest-green skin, beckoning him to run beside her gentle breeze and to sing with the wind. _'Besides, we better things to deal with: Taking care of the Kraang, and gaining my freedom.'_

_It should be best to hold your plans on gaining your freedom; not only do you have Kraang to take care of and to help April rescue her father, but you have a role and a duty that Father placed upon you._

He nearly scoffed from the reminder of him being placed as leader of the team.

_'And who said that I'll actually continue on with this burden Sensei forced me to take? Once I get my freedom, the Role of Leadership shall go to Raph and he can lead the team however he wants to lead them. I have no part into his wishes and I wish to not be any part of it.'_

"April, I promise you we will not rest until we find him." Donnie assured the redhead, earning not noticing a glare from the eldest turtle.

_'Foolish brother of mine. Still trying to win her heart, even when you should know that your chances with her is nonexistent.'_

"We won't?" Raph said, wondering who signed him up to join the 'Help April Out' Community without his say into the matter.

_'Despite her not gaining my trust to be considered pack-mate, we may need to start gaining human allies if we're to live both in the city and the sewers.'_ "No, we won't." He told his brother, now earning the gaze of the four teens below him. Casting a glare at his younger-brother and silently daring him to go back against his word, the hothead turtle kept his mouth shut, meaning that he has agreed with the decision on helping their new human-friend with her problem. April smiled gently up at the blue-masked turtle who has finally spoke for the first time within her presence.

"Thank you, but it's not your fight." She told the turtles, not wanting them to get themselves hurt or in trouble because of her, like the eldest-turtle had narrowly escaped the blast of the power generator and barely made it out with his life.

"Yes, it is." A silence followed after Donnie's sentence and with a stuttering heartbeat following suit, Leo smirked when he figured Donnie did something that made the girl smile and is thinking that he may have a shot with her after all.

_'That's one thing Don's right about: The moment the Kraang made us to be as we are, it has became our fight.'_

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I think it's high time we head back to the Lair; I'm tired as Hell and going to be sore in the morning." Raph announced to his brothers, stretching his back and causing some of his bones to crack in the process of stretching.

"I'm with you on that, bro, but can we stop for some Pis-zaw before heading back home?" Mikey asked, climbing right behind Raph to get to the roof of April's aunt house.

"'Pis-zaw'?... Does he mean 'pizza'?" April asked Don, who got over his embarrassment when the subject got changed.

"That's what you humans call that human food by? Huh, sounds a lot better and more appetizing than the way Mikey pronounced it." Don then stared up at his older-brother, who didn't look as though he was getting off of his sitting spot at any moment or realize that they're already leaving the apartment for the Lair. "Uh, Leo, aren't you coming? We're heading back to the Lair." Leonardo's eyes narrowed from his brother's question, knowing that if he doesn't go back to the Lair with them, then they'll either stay with him however long he stays up on the surface until he does return their home or drag him back to the Lair and will once again be shadowed by his brothers and Splinter all over again.

_You know that as long as the Kraang are out there, your freedom will be over in just a snap and you'll end up hunted down or captured by those aliens... You know that you have to stay with the Clan, to keep them safe and close by in order to protect them from the Kraang._

**_...Pup, as much as it pains self to put hold on dream for freedom, Pup must stay with Pack. Once danger and threat to Pack deceased, Pup's choice for freedom will be set and ready to leave Pack. For now, remain with Pack, with Omega-Brothers and Beta-Brothers, with Alpha, as Alpha-Beta of Hamato Clan._ **

Leo knew that they were right, but even with his knowledge of understanding wasn't enough to make the stabbing pain in his heart any less painful than it already was in. He was very grateful that it was still dark, because he knew that if Don or any of his brothers or even the human-girl were to see him clenching on to the strap over his plastron, they would know that something is wrong with him and could be from an injury they will think he sustained from their fight with the Kraang and Snake.

"Leo? Can you hear me?" Digging his nails into the hard-leather material of the strap, Leo turned to meet the gaze of his genius brother, who's brownish-red eyes held worry and concern over the silence his big brother process. "Are you okay? You're not badly wounded, are you?" The blue-masked turtle let out a tiring sigh, closing his eyes and concentrating on bottling up the pain his heart had to just go through from being forced to temporarily give up the chance for freedom it has craved for so long.

_'If I must hold off my chance to freedom, for the sake of my Pack and their safety, then I shall not leave them.'_ "No, Don, I'm fine." He replied back, sounding completely normal and nonchalant to the four teens. He then got to his feet, staring out towards the tall building in the direction where he knew the nearest manhole shall be. "It's been a long night... Let's all head back home and get some well-earned rest."

Earning some nods from his brothers, the turtle made their way up to the highest point of April's aunt house's rooftop and silently made their way towards the alley that has a manhole-cover that'll lead them to the sewers. Before joining Raph and Mikey to the alley, Don turned back to stare at April and give her a friendly wave, knowing that it wasn't really goodbye and that the girl will be visiting them at the Lair very soon. Staying behind and remaining still on the rooftop to be ensure all three of his brothers went into the sewer after the manhole-cover has been removed, Leo gazed up to the night-sky one last time for the near ending-point of the nighttime, seeing that some of the stars had already left their post and at the far horizon saw some lighter color seeping through behind the dark-sky.

_'Rest in peace, dark day of the sleeping sun, for even an ending must rest to begin anew*.'_

"Wait!" April's voice prevented the blue-masked turtle from jumping off of her aunt's rooftop to rejoin his brothers within the sewers and to have him turn his head to stare into her sky-blue eyes. "I haven't gotten a chance to thank you for stopping one of the aliens in the robot bodies from grabbing me, when we first met." Leo's eyes narrowed in confusion, not sure on how he should feel from the gratitude he received from the human.

_'Why does she thank me, when I wasn't the one that chose to rescue her and her father, and that we didn't succeeded on stopping the Kraang from taking them away?'_

**_Humans are very strange creatures._ **

_'Indeed, they are... Shouldn't I have some sort of human instinct-like, considering that I'm part-human? My brothers appear to have that and somehow know how to interact with April.'_

_Perhaps it's because of you being a humanoid-wolf/turtle that prevents you from knowing or understanding how to interact with others, while your brothers are humanoid-turtles and Father is a humanoid-rat._

_'That's probably it, though it never hurts to be too cautious on who we meet if they're really going to be our friend or enemy.'_  He then turned his gaze away from her. "You shouldn't thank me." His sentence confused the girl. "It's Donatello who you should be thanking, since he was the one who dragged us into the fight on rescuing you and your father, despite the fact that we failed to do so."

_Must you really push her away? Just as you stated from her, she's pure and innocent. If your brothers can trust her to keep your secret and existence from the other humans, then that should be proof enough that she can be trusted to be your friend._

_'Doesn't matter if she appears to be trustworthy or not; I'm not like my brothers and have my own reason to not immediately accept her as our friend or ally... At least, not until she pass my test. If she passes, then I shall welcome her as a friend and will accept her as a newly-found sister of the Pack._

_And if she doesn't pass the test?_

_'Should she fail my test, I'll keep my distance away from her and remain silence anywhere near her presence.'_

**_No doubt Omega-Brothers and Beta-Brother will be very disproval of Pup for rejecting She-Pup if She-Pup April fails test, but know that what Pup do is for right cause... Something different and odd about She-Pup._ **

_'That, I agree to, which is also a reason to why she'll be given a test to see if she truly does earn my trust or not. For now, it should be best to head back for the Lair, before the Pack goes in a frenzy panic.'_ He then turned to stare at the girl one last time, who seemed ready to jump back into the house and go to bed if he doesn't have any more to say to her. "Take care of yourself, April, and believe into the hope that your father will be returned to you." She stared back at him with stunned eyes, stopping herself from closing the windows when she stepped back into the house, looking more comforted and a bit more hopeful than she previously was, when hearing one of her new-found friend giving her words that she obviously needed to hear.

"Will I be seeing you guys, again?" As her answer, he gave her a friendly smirk.

_'As if Don will make this be the very last time we'll ever see her again.'_ "That depends on what you want the answer to be." Giving her a farewell nod, a gesture that also seems to tell the redhead that they would be happy to see her again or that they're alright with her wanting to see them soon, he launched himself off the building and made his way to the sewer, placing the manhole cover back to its spot to prevent any other humans from falling into the sewers by accident.

* * *

**Back to the Lair; Dojo...  
** "I am impressed, Leonardo. You proved to be an effective leader under the most difficult of circumstances." Splinter praised his eldest son, after the turtle has given him the report on how their mission went and his brothers were able to work together when in battle. Though he felt like he didn't deserve to gain his sensei's praise or approval, since their mission wasn't a complete success on account that April's father is still in the hands of the Kraang, and the anger in his heart still burns with the hate on having to still be called leader, Leo has to accept the compliment his sensei has given to him.

**"Arigato**  (Thank you), Sensei." He thanked, bowing to the humanoid-rat in another way to show his thanks, even if he doesn't really mean it. Silenced came by after his words, with the turtle staying still in his spot to await for his sensei to give him his permission to leave the Dojo and allow him to head for his room for some sleep, and the humanoid-rat wanting to have a few more moments of a conversation with his eldest-child. Then, a question quickly came to his mind on what they should also talk about.

"Have you already figured out on why I made you leader, my son?"

Leo remained bowing on the floor, shielding the grimace that came to his tired face when the question prevented him from asking the humanoid-rat if he can leave to get some sleep. In a situation where he wants to leave and be on his own, he would come up with a perfect lie and then do his own ninja vanish to make his escape the very second the person who has their eyes on them gets turned away. However, he knew that the ninja master won't let him drop or avoid the question that easily. Besides, he made a promise in his own code as a wolf that he shall not lie to a question that's of upmost importance to his sensei and Pack, as long as the subject isn't about his behavior and of them starting to figure out about his secret of being a humanoid-wolf/turtle and not a humanoid-turtle.

_'Looks like I'm gonna have to pull a Splinter on him... I hope he enjoys the feeling of the answer like he would always give to us.'_ **"Hai... Soshite, iya**  (Yes... And no) **."**  He answered honestly, gaining a surprised look on Splinter that the child has answered with one of his own response he would use on all four of his sons.

"Will you please explain to me about your answer, Leonardo?" The turtle firmly nod his head once, brushing his forehead onto the Tatami mat as he still bowed to show his submission to his sensei, before he lifted himself off the floor but kept his head lowered. Too bad for the turtle that Splinter wouldn't allow him to continue on talking when they aren't meeting eye-to-eye, for he then felt a clawed-hand going under his chin and forcing his head up to meet reddish-brown eyes of Hamato Yoshi. "Look me in the eyes and explain to me on why you chose that answer, Leonardo."

Another thing Leo would've done, is he would give a warning growl to the person getting too close in his personal space, but he knows better than to threaten a warning to his sensei, his  _Alpha_ , when he, himself, doesn't know of his son not being as the rat believes him to be. The moment the hand on his chin removed themselves and allowed himself to take a deep breath, the turtle spoke.

"As leader, I leant that there is no right or wrong, only choices." His gaze gotten a bit hard, but he quickly pushed it aside before his sensei could get the chance to see the anger he holds within his heart. "With that being said, you could've picked any one of us four to be the leader... Well, picking Mikey would've been an obvious wrong choice, but you would've still had a choice to choose either Don or Raph to be leader. Instead, you chose me to lead, because it was your choice to pick me, not because you sensed something inside of me that made you confident enough that your choice was right... What I don't get is why you didn't choose Don or Raph and picked me, when I didn't ask or say why I should be leader?"  _'Though, my obvious hunches are: Because I didn't speak on why I should be leader, I'm more experienced than my brothers and would be able to handle the role and responsibility of leadership than they can... And the most possible and obvious reason of all, is to prevent me from leaving home and being on my own, when I'll have three followers always by my side and keeping a close eye on me just in case I pull a fast one on them.'_

**"Naruhodo...**  (I see...) **"**  Splinter got to his feet and stared up at the might tree behind his son, giving the turtle the opportunity to turn his gaze away from the humanoid-rat and to get to his feet when they began to go numb and fall asleep. "And do you wish to know the answer on why I picked you as leader?"

It was an open invitation, a permission offer, for the turtle if he wanted to know his sensei's reason for giving him such a burden to hold on his shoulder. It sounded very tempting for the turtle to gain such an invite to hear Splinter's reason, without feeling he was digging into his sensei's business that the rat didn't want his sons to know or pest him about, but the fifteen year-old had a feeling whatever his reason is would not be the answer he wanted to here and a stronger possibly to be a lie in order to hide the truth.

_'I'm sorry, Sensei, but no matter how many times you would ask me to trust you or believe your words, you'd give me reason to doubt... Forgive me, or hate me for doing this.'_ "Another honest answer, Sensei... I don't. I mean, yes, I do want to know, but you have your own reason to pick me as leader and I wish to not hear your reason that would have you force me to take up a role that I never wanted to gain." He then turned and slowly made his direction towards the shōji, ignoring the stunned gaze he felt from his sensei but stopping himself when he placed a hand on the side where he would pull off to the side in order to open the door. "Maybe one day, when I'm ready to hear, I'll listen to your reason. But for now, Sensei, the truth should stay hidden and sealed."

_"Everybody! Come here! We made the news!"_ Michelangelo's voice let out a holler of excitement, pulling both father and son from their conversation and both making their way to the living room to see what the youngest-turtle was talking about.

**"A report of, get this, _ninjas_  in New York."** The reporter said to his viewing audience, with a small image of a miniature New York City in a big apple, with a human dressed as a ninja in front of most of the city-image.  **"Don't believe me? After residents reported a disturbance, the police recovered this."**  The image quickly changed into what scared and startled the blue-masked turtle: A shuriken-star, with Splinter's clan-symbol on it. While Don and Mikey looked excited that their clan's mark is live on television, Leo knows it can mean trouble if it's going to be played all over the world.

_'That can't be possible! I grabbed the shuriken that I threw to Snake's van and left it back in my room before making the plan on getting to the Kraang building! How is it possible for them to find...?! Unless, that isn't my shuriken.'_

**_Must be either Omega-Brother Donatello or Omega-Brother Michelangelo's shuriken that either dropped or left behind, probably while Pup and Beta-Brother Raphael decided to split up on finding Slim-human Snake after Omega-Brother Michelangelo let human get away._ **

_'Argh! Should've known their carelessness would eventually catch up to them and end up like this!'_

**"For channel six news, this is Carlos Chang O'Brien Gambe saying, 'Hi-ya!'"**  With the ending of the news now playing on the screen, Leo turned his glare to his two youngest-brothers, knowing that they're to be blamed for their family's trademark to posted all over the news.

"This is awesome! We're gonna be famous!" Mikey cried, putting on his overexcitement smile on his face and having a hard time to calm down.

"You must be more careful." Splinter told his children, though he didn't seem that concerned about his clan's symbol and shuriken being shown on television. "The ninja's most powerful weapon is the shadows. Being brought out into the light is a dangerous thing."

"Relax, Sensei." Raphael told their father, being too confident and seemed alright that one of their weapon has gained the human's attention of their still hidden life. "It's one little news story. What's the worst that can happen?"

Deep within the pit of his stomach, the depths of his soul and feeling of his heart, Leonardo sensed that his brother's last comment is going to bring misfortune to them and their answer to the price that'll change theirs and the citizens of New York City's life.

_'It's that feeling,'_ he thought to himself.  _'Something bad is going to happen and, judging from how my stomach feels like I just swallowed a bag full of stones, the dark-hand grasping ahold of my soul and my heart quivering a few beats as if I'm having Heart Palpitations, it's going to be a very bad one.'_

_Aren't you going to warn and tell Father about this?_

_'Every time I tell him or the guys that something bad is going to happen or something isn't right, they don't take my words seriously and would end up almost getting themselves hurt or nearly killed if I wasn't there to help out. So, for the answer, no. Besides, the lack of sleep is preventing me from figuring out what the danger or warning is about.'_

**_Rest important. Body must regain much energy it get for any wounds or aches Pup gained to heal properly. Figure out warning signs when fully-rested. For now, head for own turf and rest in sleep-spot._ **

Silently letting out a yawn and not to disturb his family's happy mood on tonight's event, the blue-masked turtle quietly and slowly made his way to his bedroom, not feeling or bothering to inform the rest of his family of his departure for the night. The calling for sleep grew stronger with each step that brings him closer to the door and when he gained access to his room, the headache that has build up within his mind instantly vanished and his feet nearly gave out from the sudden feeling of warmth that chased away the confinement of his new burden he has to carry. Smiling softly of the sight of his only safe haven he has within his home and, after a quick locking of his door and placing both Musashi and Kamiizumi in their spots beside the door, the humanoid-wolf/turtle took the final three steps to his bed and removed his bandana from his face, placing the mask on his small-dresser with his sketchbook and journal.

In mere seconds, the mask-less turtle is in his bed, covered with a dark-blue blanket to shield him from the cold-air of the near-ending Winter and now in the Land of Dreams, the only place where he can dream of gaining his freedom and finding a place where he's truly accepted within his paradise.

**TBC**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And, once again, Google Translate didn't help me with translating english to japanese and how I want it to be, that I'm not even sure if it's right or not. Also, they never really say what the mutagen's true color is, since they seem to switch the colors from a green to a blue or have them in a mixed color.
> 
> *: I actually made that up. No joke... I suck at it, don't I?
> 
> Another thing, I can't tell what the Hamato Clan symbol is. I always thought it was some sort of flower (Like some sort of Lotus Flower or Sakura [Cherry Blossom]), but after a closer look, I can't tell what it is.
> 
> R&R


	5. Mercy From the Lone Wolf, Warrior

**April 23rd, 2012  
** _Seven weeks came and gone with the Hand of Time and ever since we came up to the surface on that very day of our Mutation Day... Let's just said it was full of surprises, a bunch of bumps in the road and the feeling of the dark presence is coming upon us, closer and closer with each passing day:_

_The week after we've rescued April from the Kraang, we were out on patrol and got sighted by a human, thanks to Raph or Mikey for knocking over his satellite, Raph's temper and wanting to make Mikey squeal for mercy after pestering him. When the police had reported him missing on the news about some complaining of another disturbance, we learned that his real name was Vic. When we first met him, he was overweight, wore a white-tank top like Snake but only bigger, blue-pants and his head is partly coverd in gray-hair. If anything else to add about the human, not the friendly-type, seems to be old, about somewhere in his forties, and for some odd reason keeps on referring to us as "Frogs" or "Kung Fu Frogs". We were also sort of at his mercy when he caught us on his phone, while we were fighting some Kraang that Donnie gotten intel from April was going to break into a lab across Vic's apartment. The human was very greedy, wanting a million dollars in exchange for the video he recorded of us fighting._

_Fortunately, or unfortunately, the Kraang took him away and held him hostage, which we had gone to rescue him, even if he wasn't grateful and blown our cover for wanting his phone back._ _I sent Raph back to the Lair after his anger issue gotten the best of him over the importance of the mission, again, knowing that Master Splinter must give him a lesson about controlling his anger and what happens when you let anger consume you. If only he'd came sooner, because by the time he came to help us out, Vic had already been mutated into a giant spider, who Mikey renamed him "Spider Bytez". Now as a mutant spider, he's round and black, red-markings with orange-outlines, six eyes on his face and some between his legs, sharp fangs, four spider legs on his head and, at a perfect view to go along with his new appearance, his claws and appendages are filled with mutagen. He also has strong webbing filament and gained the ability to spit_ _highly corrosive acid from his mouth_ _. Raph was able to defeat Vic, but he was able to escape and we knew it wouldn't be the last time we would see of him. Raph also learned how to control his anger and to not let the foul words of our enemies get to him, but that didn't mean he'll stop_ _pummeling Mikey when being mocked or pranked..._

_I'm just glad that I didn't have to take the heat for Raph when Sensei was lecturing us on how we first got caught on Vic's recording on his phone, which was a huge relief for me and no more added stress to my mind or heart. In fact, Splinter yelled and scolded Raph when my brother told him on why he jeopardized our mission and, to make Raph even more insulted, he had me, Don and Mikey shoot dart-arrows at him while coming up with insults to distract him from blocking the arrows. Of course, I simply stayed quiet and whenever Don or Mikey came up with an insult, I swiftly fired away and placed my marks on his shell, mostly to the spots and places where an enemy could strike and injure him by going for the location of the organs, if the enemy has a weapon that allows them to cut through the shell, that is._

_Four and a half weeks later, we had another human mutation problem on our hands, only his mutation was purposely done by a fellow colleague who wanted to get a neurologic mutagen from him in order to give himself psychic abilities. Dr. Tyler Rockwell, who was reported missing by his colleague, Dr. Victor Falco, had been mutated into a humanoid-monkey, with the psychic ability to read emotions and sense a person's intentions that gives him a distinct advantage in evasion and combat. Despite him being dangerous and a threat when fighting him, he would make a great ally when calmed and as long we don't pose a threat to him and have no negative thoughts for him to read, he won't snap or go_ _berserk._ _  
_

_April believes that his capture could be linked to the Kraang and her father being captured, but it turned out there wasn't any connection at all, except for a new canister of Mutagen Dr. Falco kept within his lab. It took us awhile to track Rockwell down but we were finally able to stop him. While my brothers chose to attack him without much of a thought but to attack and hurt him, April and I thought calmly and showed no sign of a threat to harm him, which we were spared from being hurt and to figure out what really happened to Dr. Rockwell after a quick look in his eyes and a few sniff at his scent that held both human and monkey in the mixture... Mostly, that I understood what he was saying, thanks to me being part-wolf on communicating and understanding other animals._

_He kept on saying:_ **_"Pain... Anger... Hurt... Traitor... Falco... Held captive... Forced into... Want power... Power hungry..."_ **

_Anyway, Donnie learnt that _If he think too much about what is coming, he'll lose sight of what is and that he must be fully in the moment so he can fight without thinking. He also learnt that he _must find the spaces between his thoughts and learn to live there.__  He sure learned the hard way to never always rely on what he believes his opponent will do, like when Sensei told him to defend himself against Seoi Nage and attacked him with a different kata. It was thanks to his lesson, that he was able to defeat Dr. Falco and we were able to free Dr. Rockwell from his clutches, though Dr. Falco escaped before April could ask him if he knew anything about the Kraang and about her father. Sadly, Don's attempts to get April to like him and trying to act cool isn't going unnoticed and doesn't appear to gain any interest from the girl at all. He must learn that even his Master-plan/chart won't be able to help him get her to like him or win her heart, which I can tell she was a little annoyed by it and simply sees Don as a brother, nothing more or less. As for one more experience he learn on that day, was being humiliated and insulted by Raph and Mikey when they made fun of him for being beaten up by a monkey and in front of his 'girlfriend', while April and I tend to his wounds._

_I'm happy to not hear Mikey coming up with a different name for Tyler Rockwell as he's now a humanoid-monkey or Victor Falco for being a psychic enemy, but that didn't mean he hasn't come up with a new name for somebody; now, whenever he does a flip or keeps on doing a flip, he calls himself " _Dr_.  _Flippinstein" to simply annoy us and cause another headache to build up into a migraine.__

_If facing two mutants shouldn't consider to be difficult or challenging, then how about two human incident, that one has been trained by Sensei's greatest enemy and the other merged with alien-technology of the Kraang, and a Kraang situation that used one of Don's weapons against us?  
_

_The human that was trained by the Shredder turned out to be Chris Bradford, a martial arts master and a world-famous celebrity that Mikey has always adored. On the magazines Mikey would collect within the sewers, he was tall and muscular and with a dark brown beard, which to me resembles to an actor, Chuck Norris. Thinking that he could make friends with a human on his own and after friending him online and having Bradford friending him back, he went up to the surface and revealed himself to the human. While they 'bonded', Bradford tried to get Mikey to talk about us and could also be hinting on wondering our whereabouts. As a show of trust, which I believe he was trying to pull in order to get Mikey to trust him, he showed and taught Mikey, who then showed us how to perform it, how to do one of his secret Kata: **The Death Dragon** , a move that Oroku Saki used against Splinter back in Japan. I never showed any liking when Mikey showed it and after informing Sensei about and even showing him what Mikey did in the Kata, Sensei immediately knew Chris Bradford is our enemy._

_We were lucky to get Mikey out of there and lure them into a trap within a different parts of the sewers, far from the Lair, and sweep them away by a very powerful stream of sewer water. Our baby brother was hurt and felt betrayed when Bradford used him to get to Master Splinter and us, but he eventually got over it and gotten his own way of revenge by no longer being friends with Chris Bradford online. I was_ _frustrated that the Foot Clan ninjas don't fight fair, but knew that fighting fair isn't how ninjas win their battles; when I was thinking of ninjas to fight fair, I was actually thinking about samurais fighting fairly, which is what _Bushidō is: The Samurais way of life... Yes, I'm not just a ninja, but I'm also a Samurai and the__   ** _only_** _samurai in the Hamato Clan. While samurai sticks to a code of honor, ninjas are spies and assassin, with their code being getting the job done, even if it means playing dirty and unfairly to your opponents. Fortunately for me, I already knew that lesson and surprised my brothers when I told them of the only we would be able to defeat them._

_The second human we faced goes by the name Baxter Stockman, which for some strange reason my brothers keep on getting his name wrong, and I had to once again take the wrath for my brothers. My three idiot brothers decided to get themselves grounded by skateboarding in the Lair, when they know that we weren't allow to do so and didn't need Sensei to tell us that. While I went into cleaning up the garbage my brothers left lying around all over the floor, Mikey decided to vault himself over Don and Raph on his skateboard from the poorly made ramp he created on his own. Splinter's voice startled Raph and Don to stand from their spots and cause Mikey to crash into them, while I stayed quiet and continued on sweeping the floor to get some empty soda-cans and pizza-crusts into a pile with the rest of the garbage I swept up._ _I was able to avoid getting punished, since I wasn't involved in their activity and was cleaning up the Lair, while the rest of the guys were grounded from patrol for an entire week..._

_For the first time being on my own was one of the greatest things to ever experience, but it immediately grew short when my brothers decided to disobey Sensei's orders and follow me around while on their skateboards. That was when we found Baxter Stockman trying to break in to a building that was the T.C.R.I. building and, without thinking or waiting for a command, my three brothers took him down under a minute and slammed him into a dumpster when the building's alarm alerted the police. By the next day, he was caught on the news and attacking people at T.C.R.I, wearing a much tougher and stronger sort of suit that was many times different than his last one. Turns out during the fight, Mikey dropped the T-Pod that Donnie made while he was scrounging in a military junk yard and Stockman was able to equip it to his armor to make himself unstoppable. I told them that it would best to tell Sensei what has happened, while the rest of the guys suggested that we can easily get the T-Pod from Stockman and Master Splinter wouldn't know about it. Know which idea would've been better to do? Mine._

_His suit was too powerful for us to take down and we ended up being tossed into the dumpster, like my brothers did to him. His suit then merged with him once more, to become a single enormously powerful entity. Lucky for us, Mikey tossed three boxes of pizzas into his face and give us enough time to silently go through a manhole-cover and back to the Lair. However, Sensei was up by the time we got back and knowing that we can no longer hide the truth, I told what has happen and that's when I took the wrath for my brothers by stating I failed to do my part as leader and should've tried to send them home instead of letting them to go off into battle and beat up Stockman when they left the Lair that they weren't supposed to. We then learned that the only way to take down Stockman was to not fight the armor, but to fight the man inside._

_With help from some chains and a beehive, we destroyed the T-Pod and brought Stockman down, which Raph then decided to make the fight a tie by throwing him into a dumpster, again. And, as always whenever he felt like our opponents needed a name, Mikey had given him the name "Stockman-Pod". Sensei had decided to unground my brothers after hearing out success, right before he decided to have them do Randori. I, myself, was spared from any other sort of punishment, but the punishment that I believe to have been given would be my alone time above the surface has been cut short too soon._

_Now, for the Kraang incident: The situation started out when Don felt like he's more useless on the team and that his weapon was worthless after our fifth encounter with the Kraang and it brakes, for the fifth time, so he decided to build a robot-turtle, which he reversed engineered it from the Kraandroid he brought home with us, that'll take his place on the battlefield while he remains behind in the Lair, which Mikey has named it "Metalhead". During that time, April decides to show her moxie and investigate at a Kraang hideout, where she learned they were going to poison the city's water supply with the unstable Mutagen in a way on hoping to perfect the Mutagen and mutating the humans. She almost got caught but thanks to her quick thinking, she was able to take down a Kraang and make it back to the Lair, without getting caught or sustaining any sort of injury._

_Don's creation may be strong and have a very powerful defense, but it lacks stealth, speed and makes too much noise. What's_ _worse? Because it's still part of a Kraandroid, a Kraang was able to take control of Don's creation and use it against us. We were lucky that Don finally came to join the party and was able to both hold off and destroy his creation. Not only that and it may be hard to believe, but if he hadn't created Metalhead, then he wouldn't had been able to destroy the Mutagen and save millions of lives of New York City. And he even did it with a six foot stick, which Raph still likes to call Don's Naginata Bō staff by._

_Mikey and Raph learned that whatever Don makes something that'll help him or us in battle, never try to destroy it, because they've just learned how powerful his inventions really are when they tried to first break his creation. I, on the other hand, had chose to stay away from it and simply glare at it, knowing that it would cause some problems and for the fact it's part of a creation made by the very creatures that turned me into what I'd become..._

_Boy, with all that we've been doing for the past seven weeks, who knows what else we'll soon be facing? And having to be in many fights and training sessions, with extra-training to add up on my 'Things to do' List in my life and my brothers continuing on making noise inside the Lair or wanting to go up to the surface every night, I'm losing a lot of sleep and would get no more than two or three hours of sleep. My eating habit, it's about the same or a bit more of skipping more meals than I normally do and my purging has been increasing with everyone pressuring me or forcing me to eat more now that we have human-food and not Worms and Algae. Most of our meals will be pizza, courtesy of my pizza-loving brothers and their human-friend, April O'Neil. The rest of our meals, no longer Algae and Worms, which was a major relief to me, our homemade cooking from Mikey, with some help and assistants from April... And myself, when she dragged the both of us to learn how to prepare homemade meals, instead of always ordering pizza twenty-four/seven._

_Now for the biggest part of my progress and situation: For the passed seven weeks on being leader of the team and going to go through with it for many more time to come, it's been draining me a lot lately. My body feels like I'm carrying heavy weights on my shell, and my limbs felt like they're dragging balls and chains. My headaches haven't been going away and seems to be building up much more than usual, no matter how much Tylenol or sleep pills _I would take. It's taking every strength of my Will to not snap or severely punish my brothers when they go against my orders or complaining over something, whether we're on a mission, out patrolling or even in the Lair, and I'm just about reaching my breaking point to snapping at any moment. Heck, even my senses are nearing their limits and our being overwhelmed by the surface above the Lair.__

_I know that if I go to Sensei about this and ask him on what I should do, he'll merely tell me that given time, I'll gain the patience and knowledge on how to deal with the pressure and how to keep my emotions intact. I knew that I can't go to Sensei about it, so on the nights we don't go up to the surface but everyone is still up or going to bed, I'd head for the furthest parts of the sewers, without alerting anybody or having them stalk me as if I were some wanted criminal, and let out my negative emotions by throwing objects to break them, pounding into the walls or letting out screams in the air until my voice gives out. It may not be the best way to get my anger out, but it's way better than how the humans would take it out on themselves by doing drugs that harms their body and health or even going as far as to self-inflicted and contemplating suicide._

_In other news, I haven't seen " **Spa ce**  **Heroes** " for a good while and, honestly, I'm no longer having any interest on watching it anymore. I'm now bored with the show and now prefer to watch shows that talks about animals or how to prepare certain meals that 'families' will love to eat, just in case Mikey won't be able to make food if he's hurt or ill and to prevent Raph and Don on destroying the kitchen if they try to cook. However, just in case my brothers were to get a bit worried that something's wrong with me, I'll force myself to watch an episode or two, at least one day a week, of " **Space Heroes** " before going off to bed. I thought that Raph would be relieved to know I no longer have any interest of the show, but he was giving me a worried glance one night when we returned home from another evening night of patrolling and then asked me if I was getting sick, because I haven't watched a single " **Space Heroes** " show in over two weeks. So, to avoid giving my brothers any more worry than they already are, I got stuck into watching the show and Raph went back into teasing me on acting like Captain Ryan._

* * *

"Leo, are you done with whatever you're doing in there?!" Michelangelo's voice cried out from behind the locked door, forcing the turtle to cease his writing into his journal and to focus his attention on his brother to what he has to say. "We're all ready to go and April won't take us out unless you're coming with us!" Leo let out a low growl, pinching the bridge of his nose from the sensing of his headache giving him a killer migraine.

_'With each passing day, he's becoming more impatient and louder than he normally is. If I'd known going up to the surface would cause this to happen, I should've had Don bring sedatives to calm him down on the very first night we explored the city.'_ "And I suppose you and the guys want me to come out, don't you?" He asked in a tired voice, while he reach for the bottle of Tylenol and took out two white-pills from the container, quickly swallowing them dry and whole without any difficulties in the least.

"Uh, yeah, we do, and right now would be great!"

_Do you think one of them informed Father of you five going up to the surface, but not for patrol? He sounds very excited and very impatient, that letting Father know of you four and April are going up to the city to just hang out may had slipped his mind._

_'Hang on, I'll ask, though I have a hunch they didn't.'_ "Before I answer your question, Mikey, have any of you guys informed Master Splinter we'll be leaving for the surface?"

"...Uh, nope. Not yet, Leo." The blue-masked turtle smirked to the answer, not feeling any kind of anger for his youngest-brother to not inform their sensei of their evening plans.

_'First his inability to be patient and now starts to forget to let Sensei know of our leaving for a friendly outing of the city. The surface world is making more of a change to us than we thought it would.'_ "Tell the guys that I'll be out in a minute or two, and be sure that one of you three inform Sensei that we'll be exploring the city with April. If he asks if we'll be out on patrol, tell him that we'll keep our eyes out for any signs of danger or trouble."

"You got it, bro!" The stomping sound of feet running towards the living room allowed the eldest turtle to know his brother has left to complete his orders, giving him a few more minutes to finish up his latest entry into his journal before one of his brothers try to break down the door and drag him out of the Lair with them.

* * *

_Tonight, rather than going out for patrol and, for Raph's amusement and favorite hobbies, bash some heads, April wants to take us to eat at a favorite_ _restaurant of hers. Don, still having his head stuck in the clouds and living in his fantasy world that he'll have a shot with her, believes this will count to be their very first date together, while bringing along the rest of us._ _When April suggested that we go out to eat, rather than staying in the sewers or out busting heads, I can tell that she planned this as some sort of occasion and part of my thoughts and gut feeling tells me it has something to do with me._

_Unfortunately, for her, in those seven weeks that passed, I still haven't given her my trust and had kept my distance from her, being the one and only turtle and Clan member to interact with her the least. She isn't doing anything wrong to keep me from giving her my trust or to believe she's becoming a threat to the Clan, she just hasn't proved to me that I can trust her. Yes, she's keeping our existence a secret from her Aunt, friends and the rest of the humans. And yes, she's been kind enough to get us some human-food and other materials to make our home in a much better condition. Heck, she hangs out in the Lair, even spends a few nights every week with us down below or on missions and bonds with my brothers and Sensei. However, in my eyes and the way my animal-behavior sees it, she just seems to be bribing her way into having us accept her into the Hamato Clan much quicker and sooner than we should've decided on later in the future. Being part wolf and the only one in the family to be wolf, she must prove herself to be loyal to the family and to never betray us, unless she has a very good reason to betray our trust and is willing to make up for what she did._

_Sensei's also going to train her into becoming a Kunoichi, a female ninja. When Master Splinter asked her on how she knew that Dr. Rockwell was the monkey, she stated that she somehow knew and had this 'feeling' that told her it was him... My suspicious and instinct are correct about her being different; that 'feeling' she has, is actually a sign that she possesses an innate spiritual sensitivity and attunement with the universe that Master Splinter had trained much of his life to attain. I should know, because of me being part wolf and being trained much sooner in my childhood/toddler years, I already gained that sort of ability, I just rely on my senses and instincts much more than my achieved ability, but that doesn't mean they'll stay hidden or won't come out._

_Anyway, April seemed thrilled on going to be trained into a Kunoichi and my brothers, mostly Donnie, are also excited on having another ninja in the family. As for myself... To be honest, I'm not really sure how to feel about that. I know that I'm happy to hear she'll be a ninja and will be able to defend herself during the day. However, another part of me isn't very much pleased of Sensei's decision on having her be trained with us, especially when my instincts wants me to keep my distance from her for still not earning my trust... Although, I'll be able to observe her skills, what her strength and weaknesses are and see which parts that needs to be fixed, so she'll be able to protect herself more perfectly than she think she'll be able to do... This doesn't mean she earned my trust; since she's a new member of the team and, unfortunately, because I'm the leader, it's my job and duty to be sure every member of the team are at the top of their games when in a fight and are able to hold out on their own._

_I better stop my entry for the night; I can hear Mikey struggling to stay with the guys but is about ready to comeback to my bedroom door and bring it down if that's what it takes to drag me out of my room and get going. I'll be sure to update as soon as I can, which I hope won't be for very long. Until then, rest in peace like the sleeping sun that sets with the day to rise once more, like the Phoenix reborn from the ashes of its past to begin a new day of life._

* * *

**Above the Surface, New York City; Chinatown...**  
"You guys want to speed it up a little?" April asked the guys, thinking they're hiding behind the corner of movie theater.

"Are you saying turtles are slow?" Don asked the redhead, surprising the teenager that her friends are actually hiding behind the booth of the movie theater that a worker would work at to hand out the tickets to the costumers, and that she didn't hear them at all on moving to a different spot.

"That's a hurtful stereotype." Mikey told the sixteen year-old, who he and Raph hid on the other side of the booth, feeling a bit offended that even she were to believe that despite being mutated ninjas, she would think of them being slow because they're turtles. Leo, who hid on the same side with Raph and Mikey but leaned up against the wall where the manager would post up poster of what movie will be playing, kept his eyes and hearing out for any humans that could be coming their way and when to give the signal to his brothers to hide. Sensing and hearing nobody coming their way, the blue-masked turtle turned to the redhead.

"We're better off keeping a low profile," he plainly told April. "We find humans treat us better when they don't know we exist." After explaining himself to why he and his brothers don't follow her out in the open and have to stay on ninja-stealth mode, though hiding a more reason to why he, himself, prefer to stay behind the rest of the teenagers, his gaze went back out to the street.

"Sorry. I'm just so excited to get you out of the sewer for a change." She told the turtles, though she kept her gaze on the eldest turtle instead of to the rest of the turtles, almost sounding as if she was mostly referring to him, considering to the fact she hardly sees him go up to the surface unless one of his brothers are in danger or when on a mission.

"What are you talking about? We go out all the time." Even if he knows the five of them were going out to a friendly night of just hanging out, Raph seemed to not get that his way of having a good time won't be what he expects it to be.

"Yeah, but tonight you're going to do something besides hitting people." April told the red-masked turtle, breaking the news quick and simple to him.

"Aww..." Raph whined, feeling disappointed to hear he won't be blowing off some steams to any Kraang or mutants for tonight.

"Don't worry. You're going to love this noodle place I found."

"And you're sure we'll be welcome?" Don asked, looking a bit nervous and uneasy of the thought on how the outcome would turn out if humans at the noodle shop see four mutant turtles coming into the restaurant with ninja weapons.

"Oh, yeah. Mr. Murakami doesn't care what you look like." April answered, her voice sounding very confident and reassuring that her plans with the guys will go smoothly. "In fact, he won't even know what you look like. He's blind."

"Awesome!" Mikey cried, until he gotten a good whack in the head by Raph and to realize what he just said. "I mean, for us obviously." He then put on a big smile, trying to show to the three teenagers that his last comment meant for the advantage of not freaking out the human, not to hearing of the misfortune the human, Mr. Murakami, has to live with. Quickly noticing that he realize he saw only three older teenagers with him and an empty spot that the second-eldest teenager of the group used to be, the smile went away. "Uh, guys, did Leo went on ahead?" The older teens turned their gaze to where they last seen Leo and, also stunned to find him gone, they left their spots to see outside of the building better. Just as soon as they started to panic, it quickly went away when Raph's emerald-green eyes stared up at the theater's rooftop.

"Relax, you guys, he's still here." He sighed out, pointing a finger where the eldest turtle stood over the ledge of the building, arms crossed over his chest and eyes glaring out over parts of the city he can see.

The teens below him all let out sigh of relief to know one of their own hasn't left the group, with three turtles having be worried that he tried to go off on his own and the human-girl thinking he was waiting for the moment to bail out to avoid hanging out with her. In fact, the main reason why they're even out on a friendly stroll towards Chinatown, is so that she can learn more about Leonardo and try to see if she can figure out ways to hang out with him. Though she had a great time spending with the three younger-turtles and Splinter, the redhead didn't feel complete or truly welcomed into the Hamato Clan when one family member refuses to join in with the group whenever she comes around to spend time with them.

The blue-masked turtle glanced down at his three brothers and April for only a few seconds, before he lifted his gaze back to the buildings, once again ignoring the group of teens below him and the theater building.

"Is he always like this?" April asked the three turtles beside her, keeping her sky-blue eyes on the forest-green turtle in case he tries to pull off his 'ninja vanishing' trick.

"Yeah, but most of the times or at this very moment, he'll be exploring the sewers and tunnels on his own to either scavenge for some stuff for the Lair or to do whatever he does when he's out on his own in the tunnels." Donnie explained to the redhead, who seemed a bit stunned and confused to what the purple-masked turtle stated on what the eldest-brother would be doing.

"Really? And none of you guys are worried that he could get seriously hurt or lost, while he's out on his own?" April questioned, taking her eyes off of the blue-masked turtle for a mere minute to stare at her remaining friends standing with her.

"Believe it or not, April, Leo can take care of himself when he goes off." Raph replied, not sounding a bit concerned or in the least worried of the possibility for their brother to be in danger and needing help. "Trust us, when we tell you on how you're seeing Leo as right now, is perfectly normal."

When they looked back up, the eldest turtle was still in his spot and, as if like some sort of statue, hadn't budged an inch or move out of the pose he chose to stand in. Although, even from a far distance, April can tell something was on Leonardo's mind and his eyes seemed to be focusing somewhere in the direction that she knows for certain is to where her favorite noodle shop is. The blue-masked turtle then jerked his head up a bit, almost like a deer would when it hear something that doesn't sound good or out of the ordinary, and without any thought or hesitation, he put on a burst of speed and sprint over to the next building across the street, vanishing out of the four teens sight from down below. Taking immediate action, they all made a quick dash after the eldest turtle, running over the street and sidewalk and keeping a constant eye on top at the Katana wielder to be sure he doesn't vanish out of their sight.

"Is this another normal thing of his?" April asked the guys, surprisingly keeping up with the turtles but slowly starting to slow down a bit from not having that much stamina like the turtles do.

"Sort of, but he usually does this whenever he senses danger and somebody needs help." Raph stated, glaring up at his big brother and saw him reaching out for Musashi and Kamiizumi. He then let out smirk, slowly reaching out for his sais. "And when he pulls out his Katanas, that means we got some serious ass kicking to take care of."

By the time they turned a corner, after going down four blocks and three sharp turns into different alleys, Leo jumped down from a building he was just on and landed in front of the four teens, glaring at a building that holds some sort of restaurant with a sign above the door that looks to represent the flag of Japan, with an image of a bowl of noodles at the bottom and Japanese Kanji in the center: " **村上** ", which translates to 'Murakami', which also means "upper village" in Japanese. Through the red-screens of the window, Leo can make out three shadow-figures of humans throwing objects inside of the shop and destroying it, with a small fourth-shadow ducking away from the objects and trying to get away from the taller shadows. Leo let out a low growl, disgusted on having to see on what humans can do to innocent people and how disturbing it was that the humans causing destruction actually enjoy bringing pain to others.

_'And this is why I have every rights and reason to not fully trust April like my brothers do,'_ he thought to himself.

"Oh, no." Leo turned his head to April, who seemed to know what was going on inside of the noodle shop, as they all made a quick dash to the front of the shop.

"Who are those creeps?" Donatello asked, wondering if the redhead knew who the humans inside of the shop are, who continues on breaking the values of the shop and beating down an innocent person who may possibly be Mr. Murakami she was talking about.

"The Purple Dragons. They think they own the streets around here." It was pretty clear to the turtles, from the irritated tone and anger of April's voice and seeing the three shadow-figures of the humans destroying whatever they can get their hands on from inside, that the Purple Dragons are a gang of thieves and possibly murderers, from the way they seemed to show no mercy to the owner of the shop.

"So much for not hitting people tonight..." Leo grumbled out, popping his knuckles and getting his younger brother, Raphael, excited when he saw his eldest-brother preparing his knuckles for a fight.

"Oh well," he stated. Without any more hesitation, Michelangelo kicked down the door.

"Booyakasha!" He announced their presence to the humans, all of the turtles getting into their defense fighting-stance without bringing out their weapons.

In front of the turtles, stood three Chinese, or at least Chinese-Americans, people, with one of them standing on top of the bar counter and the other two on the other side of the counter. They look young, somewhere in their twenties, wearing black-vests and what looks to be hakama sweatpants. Judging from the same black-outfits the three are wearing and the tattoo of a dragon motif on their left-arms, it was safe to say that they were the 'Purple Dragons' that April was talking about.

"Huh?" One of them, who stood in the center of the group and probably appears to be the leader, gasped out in shock from the sight of four human-sized turtles. While the three humans were stunned to see the five newcomers stopping them from trashing up the restaurant, with April staying behind the turtles and searching for Mr. Murakami, Leonardo seemed a bit confused and sort of unsatisfied at who he and his brothers are facing against.

_'Them?... We have to face them?...'_ He wondered in thoughts, analyzing the Purple Dragons' appearance and not looking a bit worried or feeling threaten at all from the sight of the three.  _'I know that I mustn't get too overconfident or judge them by their_ _appearance and how they can hurt innocent people, but it's completely obvious to say that they'll be of no threat to my brothers and I and won't be any difficulties to take care of them.'_

The first guy Leo looked at was the one standing outside of the bar counter. He wore a purple-bandana over his forehead, which he must be using to keep his hair from getting into his face, three silver-bangles on both of his wrists. He appears to be the most heavily muscled and plays the part like some enforcer, but he doesn't seem to be very smart and seems more of a follower, waiting to be told what to do before he does something and follows the other two around.

The second guy, standing on the bar counter, seems to be the hustler of the group, who may had even been able to swindle people out of money. On his face, he has a goatee, and his hair seemed smoothed down. He held a sledgehammer in his hands and doesn't seem to be afraid to use such a weapon on other people, but his weapon may slow him down long enough for the turtles to dodge from the blows. It may not be easy to tell, but the eldest turtle has some sort of feeling that he may be the oldest of the gang, about a year at best older than the other two.

And lastly, the third guy came to the turtle's attention, who Leo is completely certain to be the leader of the group. He looks to be the youngest, almost to be mistaken for a teenager, but it was obvious to the turtle that he's in his twenties from how he doesn't look as young as April. He looks to be thin, almost like Snake was before he got mutated into a giant weed, and has a thin beard on his face, with some miniature hairs growing on the top of his upper-lip. His left-arm is covered in a long-cabled fingerless glove, which the turtle can small a small scent of blood. On his chest, he has a deep scar that goes from the left-top of his left-collarbone down to the midsection of his stomach.

It was now clear to why the humans would come and fear these three men, but to the turtles, they don't seem to be much of a challenge in their status.

_'I swear, even Mikey can handle these guys on his own, without the use of his Nunchaku, and won't even break a sweat in under five minutes.'_

_**Indeed, that's fact. However, just as Pup know and had been trained, never underestimate opponents and know there are innocent humans Pup must protect on battlefield.** _

"Alright, let him go. You don't want any trouble." Leonardo warned the Purple Dragons, his Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes glaring out at the humans of a warning to not take his warning so lightly.

"We, on the other hand, do." Raphael told the humans, getting pumped up for a fight he knows will be too easy to take care of.

"Whoa, those guys were serious. There really are giant turtles." The human in the middle of the group said to his partners in crime, surprising the four brothers about the information they just heard.

"You've heard of us?" Michelangelo asked, making Leo turn his attention to his youngest-brother when he heard the stunned and small excitement building up within his voice.

_'Mikey. No. Not now...!'_

"Dudes, we're famous!" Leo had to grind his teeth together, stopping himself from giving Mikey a good scolding on believing them being 'famous' while on a battlefield isn't a good sign at all.

"That's bad." Donatello told the youngest, giving the orange-masked turtle a serious glare that tells him to not be happy about what he think is cool or considered to be good.

"Oh. Right." Mikey quickly agreed, his excitement going away and going back into being serious and ready for a fight.

"Whatever you are, this neighborhood is ours." The human in the center told the turtles, who Leo had immediately decided who he'll be fighting against and saving for the last. "So why don't you slither back to the ocean you came from?"

"Actually, we're freshwater turtles." Donnie told the human, now no longer in his fighting stance and going into his smart-talking explaining mode, which the other turtles know immediately he's no longer focusing or thinking of the fight at the moment.

_'Don, not you, too!'_ Leo yelled in his head, feeling his patients already slipping the longer his brothers postponed the fight.

"I suspect that we're derived from the diamondback terrapin, but it's possible we're a common box-"

"Get 'em!" The human cried out, interrupting the purple-masked turtle's common sense. Leonardo smirked, happy to know that at least somebody decided to use their brain and shutting Don up about figuring out what kind of turtles the four of them are.

_'Thank you, my soon-to-be trapped prey.'_ He said in his thoughts, waiting for the human with the sledgehammer to come at him and to duck out of the way for Mikey to double spin kick his opponent away.  _'And to show you my thanks, I'll be facing you on my own and fight you with one hand behind my back.'_

_What of the guys?_

_'They'll be fine. They can take care of the other two on their own. Besides, I've been hoping to practice my_ _Taijutsu on someone and now seems as good as any other.'_ After getting himself up to his full height, after having to duck down and allowing his brother to use him almost like a springboard, he made eye-contact with the human who stayed inside of the bar counter, searching for something to use for his weapon of choice. With eyes set on his opponent, Leo made a quick dash to the counter and leap over the table, standing face-to-face with his opponent.

Seeing that his opponent still hasn't got a weapon and having to follow a code that prevents him from fighting an unarmed opponent, even if they aren't a threat to the fighter, the turtle crossed his arms and took a step back, allowing the human access to the counter to help give him a fighting chance against the turtle. Though confused and unsure on why the turtle isn't attacking him when he's open for an attack, the human wasted no time on grabbing for the nearing weapon to be his weapon, which is a large butcher knife. Leo prepared himself to fight, when he heard a small groan from behind and below him, which after getting a quick glance to the floor behind him, to be Mr. Murakami April has mentioned to be blind and okay to be around. He then noticed, after a quick sniff in the air, that the human has blood on him, not a lot to be a sign that he needs immediate medical attention, but enough to make Leo's blood boil.

_**Blind-Elder hurt. Opponent stain of _ **Blind-Elder**_ 's blood on glove. Defend and protect  _ **Blind-Elder**_  from enemy.** _

Just as it did to April, Leo was a bit taken back at what his instincts just dubbed the old-man by.

_'First April with the "She-Pup" name, and now Murakami-san with "Blind-Elder"?'_ He stated, not sure if his instincts doing this on purpose to fuel the fire to protect the innocent man, or it knows that the blind one needs his help and is already under his protection to defend him from the Purple Dragon.

_**She-Pup April speaks truth of _ **Blind-Elder**_  Murakami being blind and  _ **Blind-Elder**_  Murakami badly wounded from dishonorable Purple Dragons.  _ **Blind-Elder**_  obviously tried to face enemy on own to protect territory, even with ** _ **_disability of sight, and if She-Pup April say that Pup and Kin can trust human, Blind-Elder earned right to have trust... Besides, _ **Blind-Elder**_  Murakami's Japanese, like Alpha, and appears older than Alpha._ **

Leonardo's eyes widen from the information and that, alone, along with getting another glance at the old-man who the turtle believe to be somewhere in his sixties, gave him more than a good reason to stand in front of Mr. Murakami's fallen form and to unfold his arms to hold up his right-hand he decided to use to attack, ready to defend the fallen blind Japanese-human that the leader of the Purple Dragon thought it would be fun to beat down.

_'Looks like your right, and have a very good point of me having to now see him as a new member of the Pack.'_ Leo thought to himself, glaring at the now armed human, who held the knife up in the air but the hand holding the knife seemed to be trembling a bit. Immediately, the turtle knew that the human before him isn't bad and tough as he's supposed to be known by the innocent victims he and his guys attacked.  _'Should've known. On the outside he seems to be tough and ruthless, but really, he's nothing but a coward who spreads fear into the hearts of the innocents by making and causing threats, even going as far as to pick on those who don't stand a chance against him and his gang.'_

Small-shuffling sounds caught his hearing, which Leo knew must be April, who must be looking for the owner of the shop and stunned to find him laying behind the eldest turtle, who's waiting for his opponent to make the first move. Taking a quick glance at the redhead, making an immediate eye-contact with her, jerked his head slightly to the left, giving the girl a head body language that tells her to take the fallen blind man out of the shop and away from the fight. With a firm nod back from the girl and after gently shaking the man out of unconsciousness, also to toss a pot-lid at the goatee man that tried to attack Mikey from behind with the sledgehammer while the youngest turtle was about to try out some ramen, April placed his right-arm over her shoulders and helped Mr. Murakami to his feet, heading for the walls to stay out of the turtles way and for the elderly man to use for support. Glaring at the sight of the girl and blind man heading out of the shop, the human before Leo made a quick grab for a large-bowl and flung it towards the two.

"April! Murakami-san!  **Ahiru** (Duck) **!** " By the cry of the leader's voice, Mr. Murakami brought both himself and April to duck down, just in time for the bowl to crash into the wall over their heads and to finally make it outside, where it will be safe for the two of them to be at until the fight finally stops. Satisfied to see neither of the humans had gotten seriously hurt and now focusing on the now scared human, Leonardo placed his hand down and calmly walked forward towards the leader of the Purple Dragon. In fear of the turtle approaching him, the human made unaimed strikes with the butcher knife, as if trying to scare the turtle away and hoping to get a good scratch at the turtle, but showed to be completely pathetic and no effect on scaring the blue-masked turtle.

Then, getting back to his fighting pose by folding his left-arm behind his back and holding out his right-hand to use to strike, he once again waited for his opponent to make the move on him. Simply by looking into the dark-brown eyes of his opponent, Leo can tell where the human was looking at and what he was planning on doing. The gazes were short and would shift slightly to a different spot that he's staring at the turtle, but the moment they widen, the turtle knew he has decided to randomly bring down the butcher knife down and hope he gets a lucky shot, which he believes he'll be able to injure the turtle's right-shoulder and get a better chance to attack the blue-masked turtle once he's withering in pain.

_**An unpredictable choice; many foes go for chest or shoulders, while some go for either neck or stomach and very few even think about going after eyes or left-temple, strongest point of human's weakness.** _

_Either the humans has forgotten all about striking the left-temple while in the middle of a fight, their adrenaline blinding them in an attempt to defend themselves from their opponents, or they actually want the fighting to last longer._

_**This human's still young and too inexperienced to pick a bone with Pup, simple problem Pup can easily take care... Pup knows what to do.** _

With a calm face and a straight posture, Leo didn't have to wait long for his opponent to strike, who pulled back as quickly as he could and brought the knife down. The turtle, already knowing what his opponent was planning to do and with little effort, merely slapped the knife out of the human's hand and the moment the human was left with no weapon, gave two jab punches as his choice of attack, one to the chest and the other to the stomach. Forcefully being pulled back to lean on the bar counter and to only able to lean back up, gave Leo plenty of time to position himself to give a good roundhouse kick to the human's face and sending him tumbling down to the end of the bar counter and slamming his back against the wall.

_Quickly, pin him to the wall!_

A quick flip up on the counter and a short sprint to end with a slide on the bar, the human found the turtle standing in front of him and his back pinned up against the wall by the turtle's right-hand gripping onto his left-shoulder and his left-hand held out in a form of a fist. The turtle's Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes held rage, no hesitation to strike. But most of all, he showed no mercy in his gaze and that, alone, was all the human knew that he's now in the mercy of the turtle before him. In a reaction of fear and preparing himself for the pain that he knew will come, the human closed his eye and lifted his head up a bit, letting out small whimpers that tells the turtle he's scared and wanted his end to be quick.

**_Coward, nothing but Curl-Tail, now that enemy is victim. Curl-Tail and Pack members attacked a blind elder, no inexcusable reason, and showed no mercy. Now, Curl-Tail's going to experience what Blind-Elder went through and will soon feel pain he put Blind-Elder in, once Pup puts Curl-Tail in place._ **

_'Which it'll be my pleasure to do, as I take care of him and then give the same treatment to his friends.'_ Leonardo thought to himself, pulling his fist back a bit to prepare himself to beat the leader that he now holds his fate in his hand. Just as he was about to deliver a good punch, something caught his attention that prevented him from finishing what he started with the leader of the Purple Dragon. It wasn't the whimpers the human was letting out or of him cowering in fear on being terribly beaten. Heck, it wasn't even the small feeling of mercy the turtle sense within his heart on wanting to show he's stronger than the human and not wanting to stoop to his level. No, it was something he's doing before Leo's eyes, that he and his wolf-instincts know he must follow a certain rule of their own.

His fist trembled from the mixed feeling he has within him, fighting over on being used to deliver a painful blow to the Purple Dragon's face or to unclench itself back into a hand and push aside the feeling for vengeance.

_Vengeance? Is this is what the feeling of anger towards the Purple Dragon is about?... Despite wanting to get even with them for beating an innocent human, including one that's blind, you can't go around taking the rules or law into your own hands... You can't become like them... Release him._

_**Besides, coward of a Curl-Tail got lucky by showing submission to Pup, without even realizing what Curl-Tail's doing or that exposing neck tells Pup of surrender and admitting defeat to Pup... Omega-Brothers and Beta-Brother won't like decision, but-... Release the Curl-Tail human.** _

Leonardo didn't like what both his instincts and conscience just told him to do, but in the end, the turtle already knew he has to do the right thing, no matter how much he's never going to hear the end of it from Raphael or how much he's going to be kicking himself for making such a choice that'll make him look as if he's gone soft , even if that isn't what the turtle is worried about.

_'...Ugh... Damn me and my decision making!'_ With eyes narrowed with regret, anger on wanting to beat the human for harming an innocent human but knows that he can't give the certain punishment he wanted to give to the human and has to let him go, Leonardo released his hold on the human's shoulder and just glared into the shocked and confused gaze of the human's dark-brown eyes. Leo jerked his head slightly towards the door, ignoring the stunned gaze of his brothers watching the sight of their big brother letting his opponent go. "Get out of here," he growled out.

With no need to be told twice and pushing the turtle aside, the human calmly and slowly made his way towards the front of the bar counter and jumped down, making his way to his two fallen gang member.

"Come on. Let's go!" He told the two, shaking them a bit to help them gather their thoughts on what's going on and without a second thought, the two Purple Dragons got to their feet and made their ways out of the shop. Before joining his retreating gang, the leader of the gang turned to the turtles, mostly at Leonardo. "This ain't over, Greeny!" He stated, and just like that, he made a quick dash to his gang, not bothering to pick another fight or sneak a glance to April and Mr. Murakami.

"'Greeny'? Really?!" Donatello exclaimed, not sure if he should feel offended by the name or be annoyed that the human couldn't think up a better combat on the name calling. "I wonder how many brain cells he put to work on that." As always, Leonardo glared at his brother for making up a comment to describe how idiotic the human is.

_'We finish taking care of the Purple Dragon by letting them go, and all he can think about his the name the human just called us? I swear, it seems like to Don, knowledge and logic of the event that played before us is the most important thing to have on his mind.'_ He thought to himself, as he jumped down to the floor and quietly made his way to the front of the bar counter. To his left, the brother he knew that was going to chew him out came towards him.

"You just let him go? What the heck was that?!" Raphael yelled, completely pissed that not only the fight has ended too early, but that his big-brother just let the leader and his gang go. With a blank face, Leo calmly stared into his brother's rage-filled eyes.

"They weren't exactly a threat," he answered. "They were already at our mercy the very moment the fight started. And besides, they knew to finally stop fighting when they realized they didn't stand a chance against our skills." He then took a quick glance back outside, no longer seeing the three Purple Dragons within his sight of range. "They had enough."

"Dude! They were beating up a blind guy! There's no 'enough'!" Raph loudly reminded, his face raising to a new level of loud from the answer he gained from his brother. "Now they'll think we're wimps and we don't have the guts to finish the job!" Snapping his gaze back to his brother, Leo's Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes glared into the depths of Raph's emerald-green eyes.

"Is that what you're worried about? Your status of being a badass being reduced to a spineless, gutless, weakling?" Despite Raph being nearly five inches taller, Leo's gaze made the inside of the red-masked turtle go cold and nearly shrinking in fear of the terrible feeling the blue-eyes held. "A true warrior doesn't fight for the sake of keeping his rank high and unbreakable, nor does he goes around slaughtering his opponents to avoid being called 'weak-willed' or 'coward'. Instead, he fights to protect the innocents, for the sake to help him protect his friends and loved ones." His gaze then went back to the door, where he saw April and Mr. Murakami returning into the shop. "Be glad that we've won the fight and was able to protect an innocent man." Deciding to not bring up the topic any longer, for the time being, Raph kept his mouth shut.

"Wow. That was great, you guys!" April exclaimed, helping the owner of the noodle shop towards the bar counter and to sit him down in one of the chairs.

"Thanks, April." Donatello replied back, feeling mighty proud of himself that he did something to gain the redhead's attention. Then, with his head swelled up on the thought of April commenting his fighting skills, he decided to gloat with the girl on the parts he's taken cared of one of the Purple Dragon on his own. "Did you see when I caught the one guy and flipped him onto the counter? Did it look cool? I bet it looked cool."

Disproving of what his brother's trying to do, Leo folded his arms in front of his chest and shook his head.

_**Omega-Brother Donatello still tries to court She-Pup April into being soon-to-be mate. Typical pup, when Omega-Brother should obviously know neither self nor She-Pup are in actual age on being eligible to have mates of own. Omega-Brother should simply realize that feelings Omega-Brother has for She-Pup are simple child-like crush, fantasy illusion that makes Omega-Brother**  think **in love**._

_Not only that, even if he were to have her to be his 'girlfriend', no doubt their relationship wouldn't last for very long. Besides, it's completely obvious that she views Don as a brother, not a love-interest or lover on top of that._

_'No doubt she already knows that, but is possibly waiting for the right moment or time to tell him how she actually feels about him. I'll stay quiet about this and let her handle this situation.'_

"The coolest." A small pause of silence went by.

_'...She didn't see it; her heart pounded an extra few beats and her voice sounded a bit uncertain, indicating she's lying and isn't sure how to tell Don that she didn't see him take down one of the Purple Dragons.'_

"...You didn't see it, did you?" Don said, feeling the pride getting ripped away and a bit embarrassed on making a fool of himself.

"No, I did not." April answered, her voice sounding how sorry she was for giving him such false hope on having them talk to each other.

"My friends, I'm indebted to you." Mr. Murakami told the four turtles, his voice sounding very tired from having to be tossed around and being punched by the Purple Dragons but held so much appreciation and gratitude on what the turtles did for him, that Leonardo's negative feelings on letting the Purple Dragons go instantly vanished from his mind and heart. "Please, allow me to make you a meal. Free of charge."

The blue-masked turtle, knowing that the human is blind, gave him a soft smile, happy to see that the attack hadn't damaged the elderly-human to lose his trust into knowing there are people who care and are willing to help him in his time of need.

_For somebody who's been beaten and pushed around, he sure has a strong spirit._

_**Blind-Elder also knows how to show gratitude to Pup and Omega-Brothers and Beta-Brother, though shouldn't have to go through trouble on doing such a task.** _

_'I know. I'm more than happy to simply be there for _Murakami-san_  whenever he's in danger, with nothing to gain back in return for my services... Even if he is blind and we've only just met him, he clearly trust us enough call us "his friends" and for that, I shall accept him as a friend and see him as a member of our Pack.'_

"I think we can allow that." Raphael said, smiling from actually getting and seeing some good in what their rescuing got them into. Leo, on the other hand, gave him a quick glare at having to sound like he was expecting an award in exchange for their help.

_'Of course, unlike myself, my brother seems to want to be the kind of hero that wants an award for his services and not for free.'_

_Either that, or maybe he's taking the offer for an excuse to distract him from having to keep fighting with you on why you let the Purple Dragons go._

_'Even so, that still isn't a good enough excuse to make an injured man to cook a meal to show his appreciation.'_ Leo then turned his gaze to the shop, catching sight of some of the chairs and furniture of the restaurant sprawled out on the floor and some items that are made of glass completely broken into pieces all over the floor.  _'It'll probably take Murakami-san a while to get this place cleaned up before his next customers come over for food, considering he must be in some sort of pain from the beating of the Purple Dragons he's taken... I'll help him out by cleaning up the Purple Dragons' mess they made in his shop.'_

"What is your favorite dish?" Mr. Murakami asked the turtles, happy to hear that his saviors will take up his offer for having a free meal to express his gratitude. Leo was barely able to hold back a groan from the question the human just asked him and his brothers.

_' _Murakami-san just asked the forbidden question,_ '_ he thought to himself.  _'There's only one food on their mind and that food is...'_

"Pizza!" The three brothers cheered out, big smiles plastered on their faces and excitement coursing their veins of the thought on having pizza as their reward for helping Mr. Murakami as an acceptable payment.

_'Pizza...'_ Leo's stomach let out a growl, but it wasn't just the kind of growl that tells its master he's hungry. It also let out an upset-stomach growl from thinking about the very food his brothers grew obsessed with and preferred to eat almost all day and every day.  _'I swear, it's almost like to them, pizza is the only food source they can live off of. Can't they ask for something else that doesn't involve grease-covered cheese or sauce that nearly resembles itself to blood but is actually juice from tomatoes that almost taste like they've gone rotten?'_

Pushing the thought of pizza aside from his mind the best he could and while his brothers and April took a seat in the chairs around the bar counter to wait for their meal to come, the blue-masked turtle went for the fallen furnitures that still laid in their spots from being forcefully yanked out of their places by the Purple Dragons and went into putting them back in their places. The scraping of the chairs caught the blind man's attention, who was swiftly going over from one pan for another on his big stove that sat in the center of the bar-counter. He would've told the eldest turtle that he would take care of the cleaning of the shop himself, but he can sense that the turtle wanted to help out and seems to not want to take no for an answer. So, instead, he kept his attention on the meal and let one of his heroes clean the mess that he didn't have to do.

It took Leo under two minutes to get all the chairs back in their spots and another minute to dispose of the destroyed chairs, as well as replacing them with newer chairs that the owner keeps behind the Noren. The moment he finished, he used his nose to help him find the broom, which was hiding behind the Noren that covers the staircase that he had a hunch leads to Mr. Murakami's apartment, to sweep away the shattered glass, destroyed parts of the plants and splintered wood chips to form them in a pile and using the dustpan for some assistance, rid away any sort of evidence that the Purple Dragons came to the noodle shop.

"Murakami-san, that was awesome!" Donnie told the owner of the shop, astounded by the way the human moves over the stove with ease and has impressed the three turtles with his moves on how he makes his dish.

"You're like a ninja, but for food." Mikey complimented, wondering if the human had actually been a ninja in his younger years before he was a food maker for a noodle shop.

It was pretty clear that none of the three turtles took notice of their big brother taking care of the mess that the Purple Dragons had left behind and didn't think about wanting to help clean up the mess, which is what Leo prefers to have; to only be silence and unnoticeable, never to be heard unless told or asked. The only one who noticed his kind generosity to Mr. Murakami was April, who seemed a bit surprised that none of the other turtles had given a thought about helping Leo with the cleaning and didn't seem amused that they were keeping their focus on Mr. Murakami making their meal. She was actually thinking about helping the blue-masked turtle with the task and give the younger brothers a bit of a scolding for not offering to help out, but she can tell from the look on Leo's face that he wanted to have a few moments to be on his own and that he seemed to want to take care of the mess by himself. So, she stayed quiet in her seat and kept an eye on the turtle until he finally finished cleaning the shop and went to take a seat on the other side of the bar counter, a chair away from Raphael's left-side of the table.

Minutes later, Mr. Murakami finally finished his dish he prepared for the four turtles.

"Pizza Gyoza!" He announced, placing out four wooden sushi plates in front of the turtles, all having ten potstickers laid out and a miniature dipping bowl on the left-end of their plates that held some sort of sauce for the brothers to dip their pizza dumplings/potstickers into.

"'Pizza Gyoza'?" April questioned, obviously never hearing such a certain kind of potsticker to be made with pizza filling and completely positive that it wouldn't taste good if its in a mixture of Japanese food and italian food. As for the turtles, they all eyed their food with curious looks on their faces, with the three younger brothers already picking up one potsticker and trying it out. The moment the food went into their mouths and took their first bite into their meal, the taste was so delicious that they could've sworn their eyes just popped out of their sockets from the marvelous flavor they've ever tasted. And so, the three brothers immediately dig into their meal, savoring each and every dumpling they scarfed down.

"Wow." Raph was at a loss for word to describe how he really felt about the food.

"Delish!" Mikey cried.

"It's like I got a one-way ticket to Flavorville!" Donnie commented,

"This is really good too, you know." April told the boys, holding up her Miso soup to see if any of the guys were interested on trying it out, which ended up with the three turtles going back into eating their Pizza Gyoza.

While the four teens ate, Leo simply stared down nonchalantly at his potstickers, already knowing from the smell of the food it was a very appetizing meal. However, because the scent also carries the scent of what pizza would have, his stomach didn't seem to want to have any of the pizza potstickers unless the turtle would wanna risk having to purge the food out of his stomach, again. Not only that, he couldn't really lower his guard, not after going head-to-head with the Purple Dragons and knowing that the area Mr. Murakami lives isn't a safe place to be comfortable in. Because of that, the turtle has been turning his gaze from his meal to the door, watching out for any shadows of suspicious characters that may look as if they're trying to break in and keeping a close hearing for any sound of trouble trying to come into the shop.

_You know, if you don't start eating, the guys are going to be questioning your eating habits again, and no doubt Raph's going to pin you down and force feed you._

_'I know that,'_ he thought to himself.  _'It's just that I can't; it's basically a pizza dish and just the thought of pizza makes me want to starve myself until the creation of pizza finally comes to an end.'_

_ Don't let the guys hear you say that, or else they'll come to believe you're a Kraandroid in disguise or some sort of evil-clone of their big brother. Besides, you also like pizza as much as they do. _

_'...Yeah, I know, but that doesn't mean I love it so much to wanna eat it all the time, twenty-four/seven. And the homemade pizza Mikey would make, he sure knows how to make a person go bulimic from the sight and smell of his food.'_ A shiver ran down his spine from the last pizza Mikey decided to make.  _'Never thought he would actually try to make an actual Fish Pizza, by adding Tuna Fish and Sardine into the making with the cheese and sauce. And to top it all off, two Japanese fish sauces: Shottsuru and Ishiru... Ugh, I should be glad he didn't think about adding worms into the meal.'_

_...Well, that's Mikey for you: Strange appetite can lead one to wanna make different kinds of creation they believe to become a great masterpiece._

_'Yeah, I noticed... Anyway, my mind just isn't in the mood for food right now; it's still lost in thought about the Purple Dragons coming to Mr. Murakami's shop.'_

_**Best to ask Blind-Elder question. May know something about Purple Dragons that can give Pup some sort of clue on where Purple Dragon den is.** _

_'...Good idea... I should probably ask in his native tongue, just in case somebody could be listening on our conversation.'_

_**Wise idea, Pup.** _

With his mind made up and finding it as a good excuse to not eat, Leonardo lifted his head to stare at the human before him.  **"Murakami-san wa, murasakiiro no doragonzu wa ōku o atsumatte kuru nodesu ka** (Murakami-san, do the Purple Dragons come around a lot) **?"**  Him speaking in Japanese brought a confused look on April's face, questioning glances from his brothers and a stunned Mr. Murakami that one of his saviors had asked him a question in his native tongue.

"Uh... What did Leo say?" April asked Don, who was the closest turtle sitting next to her.

Ever since she agreed to become a Kunoichi, she had also decided to take up some Japanese lesson so that she would be able to understand what Splinter would say to her or when one of the turtles were to slip their tongues into their Sensei's language. She was indeed a fast learner into the language, but just like all beginners, she doesn't fully understand the whole language of Japanese.

"He asked Murakami-san if the Purple Dragons come here a lot," the purple-masked turtle whispered back to the girl. Letting out a tiring sigh, Leo knew what the answer was to his question.

**"Hai,"**  he answered. "They demand protection money, but I refuse to pay. They will surely return." At that last sentence, Leo knew who was going to speak up next and what it was going to be about.

_'Oh, God, please don't it up, Raph.'_  He silently prayed, though he knew he won't be getting his wish. _'I'm not in the mood to argue and all I want to do is head back to the Lair and get some sleep, before I go off and track down the Purple Dragon's hideout.'_

"Well, they wouldn't if somebody hadn't wimped out." Raph remarked, giving his brother one of his disproving glares to try and make him second guess his judgement for letting the leader and his gang go. However, the blue-masked turtle knew that in his heart, he made the right choice by showing compassion and mercy for the human. And so, despite the throbbing pain building up, Leo decide to play his brother's game.

"Oh really, Raph?" He asked, returning the glare back to his brother, but not giving him the cold-feeling like his last glare gave him. "You believe that they would leave Murakami-san alone, just like that, if we beaten them even more than they'd already had to take from us?"

"Uh, yeah, I do." Raph's answer was too quick of a response, which means he answered with what he believes his statement to be right and not seeing the negative side on what if they didn't let the Purple Dragons go.

"Well, then, you're a fool to believe that would actually happen." Don and Mikey nearly choked on their last few remaining Pizza Gyoza when they heard what their big brother just said to the hothead turtle, who also looked stunned by the blue-masked turtle's word. April, who also ceased her eating, could feel a dark tension going around the air and she knows that there's probably going to be some sort of fight between the two eldest brothers.

"What was that, Fearless?" Raph growled out, scraping his chair back to get up to his feet and stomping his way to the eldest-turtle, who's face stayed completely calm and showed no sign of being scared or intimidated by the red-masked turtle's anger.

"You heard what I said," he answered. "You're a fool to believe that being and acting like the Purple Dragons would make us better and stronger than them, let alone have them leave Murakami-san alone."

"Really...?" Raph stated, not sure if he'll be able to hold back the urge to strike down his brother and start another fight to prove himself to be the better ninja than the blue-masked turtle. "And what makes you say that, Leo?" Resisting the urge to shake his head, facepalm himself or letting out a sigh, the eldest turtle calmly answered the red-masked turtle's question.

"They're a gang, Raph, and if there's one thing about gangs, is that many of them have alliance and part of a higher class connection to dangerous people. What else? they've been told about us, meaning whoever told them about our existence, most likely means that the Purple Dragons are allies or most likely workers to the Foot Clan." The four teenagers' eyes widen in horror from Leonardo's words, with Mr. Murakami also sensing a sign of danger in the air from the mentioning of the Foot Clan that Leo brought up. The turtle then got out of his seat and stood face-to-face with Raph, who still had a stunned look on his face. "And if you want to risk Mr. Murakami's safety by beating them to a pulp and have them get back at us by getting the Foot to clean up their failure, then you're already on your way on being like the Purple Dragons... Maybe even a Foot Ninja." Ignoring the stunned glances of the other teens, Leo turned to the noodle owner, who was putting away the pans into the sink that had helped him make Pizza Gyoza for the turtles. "Can I get my meal to go, Murakami-san? I wish to take the rest to our sensei." With the last pan in the sink, the blind man turned his head towards the direction where he heard Leo's voice from and smiled gently at the turtle.

**"Mochiron**  (Of course) **,"**  he replied. Feeling out for the boxes that he would have for his customers to take their meals home with underneath the board that he keeps on the right-side of the bar counter, Mr. Murakami slowly and calmly made his way to where Leonardo and Raphael stood next to the counter and the moment he felt the styrofoam feeling of the boxes, he pulled one of the medium-size boxes off of the small stack and quietly handed the box to the eldest turtle.

**"Arigato,"**  he thanked the owner. Turning his back to his brother and ignoring the sad expression on Don, Mikey and April's faces when they saw he hadn't eaten one of his own potstickers, Leo silently pushed all of his meal into the styrofoam box and then sealed the box up to prevent the food from falling out. With the styrofoam held within his left-hand, Leo gave Mr. Murakami a respective bow, despite knowing that he can't see him bowing but may be able to sense the turtle showing his respects to him. "Thank you for the meal, Murakami-san.  **Heiwana yoru o sugosu**  (Have a peaceful night)." Smiling from hearing the appreciation and wishing him for a good night, Mr. Murakami returned the bow back to the turtle, though he did flinched a bit from the bruises he received from trying to defend himself and his shop.

**"Sugu ni kaeru**  (Come back soon) **,"**  he told the turtle. Making a silent promise to himself to make a quick stop to Mr. Murakami's shop whenever he and his brothers go out on patrol and without another word, Leonardo smiled gently at the kind human before him and quietly made his way out the door.

_You won't be alone for long; the guys and April are going to cut their time they probably planned to stay for longer at the restaurant and catch up to you to be sure you get to the Lair._

Leo's smile immediately went away and to replace the smile was a scowl from the information he gained from his conscience, even when he knew that it was bound to happen.

_'Like I'm actually going to do a runner, with one of my hands holding on to leftovers that I plan to take home to Master Splinter.'_ He scoffed, making his way for the nearest manhole-cover that he seen half a block away at the right-side of the noodle shop and next to an alley.  _'They should continue on with their friendly night without me; I didn't wanted to come along in the first place. Besides, they'll have loads of fun without me there.'_

_Even if that were true, April looked a bit upset and disappointed when you walked right out the door. It would appear that she planned the whole thing so that you could spend time with her and your brothers._

_**She-Pup April's heart in right place, but decision on wanting to earn Pup's trust isn't correct.** _

The turtle's eyes narrowed from the mentioning of the redhead, feeling his heart growing a bit heavy of the guilt for ruining the girl's plan to hang out with the guys.

_'I'll admit, I do feel bad for spoiling her plans.'_ He thought to himself, as he leaned down and opened the manhole-cover, after he set aside his box to have both hands to pull the cover off of its place.  _'However, that doesn't change the fact that I never intended to remain present for the whole evening plan she arranged or that I don't regret on cutting our time short.'_

"Hey, Leo, wait up!" Mikey's voiced called out to the eldest turtle, who didn't bother to turn to see his brothers and April heading for his way, when he can hear the sound of footsteps making their way towards him. Rather then listen to his youngest-brother, Leo reached for the styrofoam-box that still held his untouched food and, with no hesitation jumped down the hole of the street.

_'But that doesn't matter right now. What does matter, is about the Purple Dragons. Whether I had finished the leader off or not, they'll surely return to get back at Murakami-san. And right now, I'm having a hunch that they're going to be informing someone from the Foot Clan about us, which I'm guessing it's going to be Bradford and that Brazilian-human that helped him tie up Mikey from our last encounter.'_

_Brazilian? How did you figure out that the human working with Bradford is Brazilian?_

_'Simple: His accent while he was speaking in English, for the short reason, but it's more from the way he fought us; it's Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics and music.'_

_"Dance", and "Music"? Is it some sort of game?_

_'Sort of, a while back. It's actually known for quick and complex moves, using mainly power, speed, and leverage for a wide variety of kicks, spins, and highly mobile techniques.'_

_Really... Sounds like a combination of Mikey and Raph_ _ performing such fighting stance. _

Leo smirked at the connection between the Brazilian martial art and how Mikey and Raph sort of relates to it.

_'Yeah, it does. Though, it sounds more to Mikey's level than Raph, but I can't actually see him trying to attempt on doing such attacks like the human did.'_

"Leo, slow down!" Mikey's voice echoed throughout the tunnels of the sewers, which was then replaced by the sounds of his screams and certain items being knocked around by something. The sounds then ended with a crash, followed by a groan from Mikey and a "You're an idiot" from Raph. In response from the sound, Leo face palmed himself.

_'I swear, I feel like I'm going to have to repeat myself, like some broken record, to remind them to be quiet and for Mikey to pay attention where he's going.'_

The Lair eventually came into view, where the turtle then quietly made his way to the kitchen and placed the Pizza Gyoza inside the fridge to keep them fresh and cool, before heading for his bedroom and locking the door. At the same time, Leo heard his brothers and April's footsteps entering the Lair as well, with a new pair of steps making its way to the living room and towards the group of steps, which the turtle knew to be Splinter.

_**"My sons, and April, how was your evening? Did it went as well as it was planned to be?"**_  The only replies the humanoid-rat gained and from what Leo could hear, was a scoff from Raph, an  _ **"Uh... Sort of?"**_  from Mikey, a disappointing sigh from April, and  _ **"Not exactly, Sensei."**_  from Don. Leonardo knew instantly that Splinter isn't going to be thrilled to hear that his eldest-son just cut their activity short, once the guys and April tells him what just happened at Mr. Murakami's noodle shop.

_'If I get in trouble, which I'm probably am, then oh well.'_ He thought to himself, as he made his way towards the center of his room and sat down in a Lotus position.  _'I'm already used to taking the blame and accepting the punishment, that it's not really a big deal to me, anymore. Right now, what I need to focus on is figuring out what we're going to do once the Purple Dragons inform Bradford and his partner of our last known location... We must protect Murakami-san, without becoming like our enemies and the way they fight in order to win.'_

With his back turned to the door and placing his hands resting on his knees, the turtle closed his eyes and did his cleansing breath, going into deep mediation. His mind went totally blank, unresponsive to what's happening within the outside world of his room, as his thoughts fade into nothing but the darkness, one of his few attempts to escape his reality.

**TBC**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, people, Leo is also Samurai [at least, this Leo is; not sure of the other Leo incarnations. Maybe a little bit of samurai from 2003 Leonardo, but I think that's it.] (his fighting stance and some of his moves are samurai. Heck, even his Katanas appear more samurai-like weapons), not just a ninja. And yes, Bushidō is a code of honor for samurai (I looked it up), which does make Leo half-ninja and half-samurai, with a possibility of him being the only samurai in the family and the only one following the Bushidō code (unless Splinter has his share of being samurai in the past back in Japan).
> 
> And yes, in my story, Raph is the second tallest of the turtles and is taller than Leo. The Fish Pizza, I made that stuff up and I advise you to not try and make it (I may not know what it would taste like, but I doubt it would be appetizing. So, it would be best not to try it). And yes, google translate left me with that and I'm not sure if that's the actual right translation or not.
> 
> And before you ask me or those who're wondering... NO! This won't have any Leoril [Leo x April] (I don't know what their couple name is), only sibling moments!
> 
> R&R


	6. Disobey a Leader's Order, And you Suffer

**Outside of Leo's Room...**  
"My sons, and April, how was your evening? Did it went as well as it was planned to be?" Splinter asked the four teens, smiling in hope that their plan to simply hang and not get into any fight for just one night has gone successful. However, from the look of anger on Raphael's face, a confused Michelangelo, an uncertain Donatello and an upset April, tells the humanoid-rat that their plan wasn't as it was supposed to go. Rather than to say something out loud or explain to what happened, Raph scoffed out a small "Yeah, right..." before making his way towards the dummy and release some of his anger out on. Mikey, not sure on what to say, rubbed the back of his head with his right-hand and stared down to the floor.

"Uh... Sort of?" He said, though he knew that wasn't really the best answer to tell Splinter. April, still feeling upset and a little hurt, let out a deep sigh and folded her arms in front of her chest, staring down at the floor. Having a gut feeling that he's not going to be of any help on talking and wanting to be sure that his eldest brother has indeed returned to the Lair, he quietly excused himself from the group and made his way towards the kitchen. Seeing as he the only one who was gonna have to tell his father, Don finally gave him an answer.

"Not exactly, Sensei." He answered, his Mahogany-brown eyes flashing emotions that tells the humanoid-rat that their plan to get Leonardo to hang out with them wasn't a success at all. "We had a little problem, while we were heading for Murakami-san's noodle shop." Immediately, fear came into the eyes of Master Splinter and has gone into his overprotective state.

"What has happened? Did any of you gotten hurt?" His heart gave out a shutter when he realized that he hasn't seen his eldest-child within the group and immediately had a horrifying feeling that made him too afraid to almost not ask the one question that nearly had him experienced one of his worst fears. "Has Leonardo try to go off on his own?" April can tell from the tone of his voice and the worried look on the fifty year-old's face, that the question he asked about Leonardo is something serious and should give him the right to be afraid if the answer to it was 'yes'. Luckily for him, it isn't going to be the answer or reply he's going to get.

"No, Sensei, he didn't. We saw him going down a manhole after getting his food to go in a box from the noodle shop, which means he probably locked himself inside his room for some alone time." Donatello reassured, putting up both of his hands in front of him to signal his father to stay calm and to not do anything drastic. "And no, none of us has gotten hurt. We just gotten into a fight with a human gang who calls themselves the Purple Dragons. There are only three humans in the gang and weren't that much of a threat, so we've taken care of the problem." Unfortunately, to disagree to his brother's claim, Raphael gave the dummy a roundhouse kick and knocked it off the hook, forcing it to land roughly to the ground.

"Except you're forgetting the part where Leo didn't finish the job on giving their leader a painful lesson on beating up a blind-man, and allowed the Purple Dragons to leave!" Not bothering to pick up the dummy and putting it back on the hook, he made his way towards the group and turned his gaze to stare at his father. "He showed weakness, Sensei. Those guys only understand one language: Fists." He then held out both his fists in front of him, as if to prove a point to his theory.

"What about feet?" Mikey asked, as he made his way back to the group, with the styrofoam-box held in both his hands to show the others that the eldest turtle has returned to the Lair and put their worry at ease. Trying not to let out his anger on his brother for asking a simple question that also adds to what the Purple Dragons also uses to fight or understands besides their fists, the hotheaded turtle let out a deep sigh.

"Yes, Mikey, they understand feet."

"That would make them Bilingual." Don pointed out, acting and being his smart aleck-self when one of his brothers makes a single mistake into their claim.

"Argh!" Frustrated, Raph slapped both his hands on both sides of his head, as if to physically show his brothers how angry he is about the conversation. "The point is we can't go soft on them!" It wasn't a complete hunch, but both Don and Mikey can tell that Leo's talk with their hotheaded brother is still going on through his mind and is most likely fueling the fire and belief to wanna take the humans down as a fairing punishment.

"To show mercy is not soft, Raphael." Splinter calmly told his second-eldest son. "It is a sign of true strength." His words didn't seem to make the red-masked turtle any better or calmer, more annoyed that he's hearing fighting isn't a good way to display dominance and anger rising that his father isn't on his side to what he's speaking from his mind.

 _'Seriously? First Leo, lecturing me that we can't act like ruthless as the Purple Dragons, and now Master Splinter is stating Leo's choice is right? How is letting your opponent go show that you're stronger than they are?'_ "But, Sensei, they're criminals. This is war!"

"A Daimyo of the sixteenth century once said, 'in times of peace, never forget the possibility of war. In times of war, never forget compassion.'" A small pause of silence went around the group, till Raph spoke out what he thinks to what the Daimyo of the sixteenth century's words feel to him.

"I'm guessing that guy lost a lot of wars." To demonstrate his theory, Splinter swiftly brought his cane up and thrusted it towards the hothead turtle, having the tip of the jade-crusted cane to stop only centimeters away from the throat of Raphael's snout, forcing a gasp of breath when he thought he would be brought down by his sensei, along with having Michelangelo, Donatello and April to backing away from the red-masked turtle in thought of being next. Emerald-green eyes looked up into the reddish-brown eyes of the humanoid-rat, staring into the gaze that held no anger or threat to the teenager.

"You see? Mercy." He then pulled back his cane from his son, only to actually whack him in the arm, as punishment for not truly taking his Words of Wisdom to heart.

"Ow!" Raph yelped out, bringing his right-hand to nurse the dull ache in his left-arm that he knew will probably bruise for a good while. Not wanting to gain another whack from the cane, the turtle decides to speak as calmly as he could to have Master Splinter realize his brother's choice on letting the Purple Dragons go is a mistake. "Okay, look. Compassion is great. But the Purple Dragons are not going to leave Murakami alone, and Leo probably won't have us go out to look for their hideout to teach them a lesson."

"And besides that, how are we gonna track someone down when we can't talk to anybody?" Don added, also feeling that they need to make certain that the humans gets the message to leave Murakami alone, with or without Leonardo's say into what they should do or not do. April knew that the results of the guys going after the Purple Dragons may not go well as they'll want it to go as, but with their leader locked away inside his room and will most likely refuse to have them look for the three men, the teen decides to take matter into her own hands and help out the three remaining turtles.

"Leave that part to me, guys."

* * *

 **At the Tidal Wave Fresh Fish...  
** "Excuse me, sir." The owner of the Tidal Wave Fresh Fish, who was simply sweeping away the dust that was collected all over his store's floor, ceased his sweeping and turned to see the redhead teenager standing behind him. "I'm looking for the Purple Dragons."

The chinatown-fishmonger is obviously of Chinese descendant, who appears to be around the same age-group as Murakami or a little bit younger than the noodle shop owner. He has black-hair, wears a grey-shirt that hangs over his thin-form and a low bib overall pants.

From what April has gathered and heard from the street, the fishmonger had been cited with the Purple Dragons, always carrying a large envelope that he always hangs over to the three humans as if exchanging it to prevent something bad from happening to him, and the gang has always struck over to the shop for many nights before going anywhere else, leading to suspicious that their hideout is close by to the Tidal Wave Fresh Fish store. With that being said, there was no doubt in her mind that he should know where the hideout it. Unfortunately, like many people when attacked by gang activities, the fishmonger prefer to not say anything about the Purple Dragons.

"I don't know what you're talking about." April could hear the lie in his voice and the fear held within his brown-eyes, that she couldn't really blame him for lying just so he doesn't get targeted by the gang if they were nearby or heard that their hideout is being given away to some adolescence, school-girl.

 _'Okay, April, time to put your Kunoichi-skills to the test... I sure hopes this works.'_  She thought to herself, looking around to be sure she doesn't see anybody nearby to hear in on their conversation and taking a quick glance at the top of the rooftop across the street to see other turtles watching her from below and Raphael giving her a thumbs-up to tell her it's safe for them to continue on."Don't worry, I can protect you. I'm an undercover cop." If she were on her own, she would've face palmed herself for making up such a lie that's too obviously unbelievable.  _'An undercover cop? That's the best I could come up with?! There's no way he's going to buy that!'_

"You look like you're sixteen." The fishmonger stated, having doubts that the girl can actually protect him, let alone be an actual undercover cop she claims to be.

 _'Just stick with the lie; best to try and confuse him or convince him that I am a cop, than change the story and get him suspicious.'_ "I know. I'm really good at this."

She then placed her right-hand on the frozen fishes surrounded by ice, being displayed on how fresh and ready they are for people to come and buy them, which she then accidentally leaned in a bit too much over the fishes and forced most of the fishes to slide out of the ice and onto the pavement of the sidewalk. Blushing in embarrassment, she let out a nervous chuckle and gave him an apologetic smile, though she almost looks as if she meant to do that in order to prove that she's 'really good' at acting and being an teenager in disguise. Nevertheless, he needs to know if she truly claims to be a cop.

"Let me see your badge." Immediately, April finally caught her break and perfect excuse to convince the man she's claiming to be a cop.

"Are you crazy?" She questioned, acting a bit uncomfortable that he would ask to see her badge where anybody around would be able to see her do it if she had a badge. "I can't carry a badge. That would blow my cover."  _'Please, take the bait. Just please, take the bait, already!'_

"I suppose that makes sense." An answer to her prayers and a major relief that her plan has worked, April put on a smirk on a smile as the fishmonger told her what he knows about the Purple Dragons and their whereabouts.

Unknown to her and to the turtles, a few pair of eyes and ears had been observing and listening in on the conversation, with one of those pairs of eyes, after the adult told the girl where she would be able to find the place where the gang hangs out, swiftly and silently made its way into a storm drain and makes its way to the one being it knows that'll want to know what's going on.

* * *

 **Back at the Lair; Leo's Room...  
** The fifteen minutes mediation session has really helped the turtle to calm his mind and with the outside of his room also gone death silent, Leonardo took this peace and quiet moment to draw into his sketchbook. To the turtle, it's been much too long since he drew into his book, because he now has the role and responsibility to lead his brothers into battle with the Kraang and Foot Ninjas. Now with his brothers and April out of the Lair and Splinter most likely meditating in the Dojo or could possibly be eating the Pizza Gyoza he brought home, the turtle in blue went to drawing one of his artwork.

At this very moment, he has nearly completed the background of New York City. The background and the outlining of the buildings are of black and grey, with the lines of the clouds being drawn out with the black and using the grey as a certain-shade coloring. Once he has finished the background and the shading, will he then use the only two colors into the picture.

_You're not worried about the guys out on their own in the city? What if something happens to them?_

Usually, when being mentioned about his brothers probably causing mischief and would need his help, Leo would let loose a growl and would bang his head against the wall to distract himself from the anger building up until he let out enough of his anger to control the rage building up inside of him, which usually ended up with his forehead bleeding and having to go to the bathroom to wash away the blood off his face and mask. However, since the meditation has helped him to calm down, he simply let out a deep sigh and continue on with coloring some of the building grey.

 _'They can take care of themselves if they get into trouble,'_ he thought to himself.  _'They don't need me around all the time to solve their problems, like back when we were younger. Besides, they're probably out to continue their time to have fun that I've already had them miss. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if they went back to Murakami-san's Noodle Shop to get more Pizza Gyoza.'_ Just by thinking of the name of the pizza dumplings the noodle shop-owner made cause his stomach to growl for food, though it also made his stomach feel a bit sick from the thought of it being the very food his brothers crave for.

_You may be right on that, but that doesn't mean that it won't happen. Father made you leader, so that you would not only lead your brothers on the battlefield, but to also to protect your brothers and to watch over them._

The color pencil in his hand lifted off of the paper, shaking and nearly to the point to breaking in half from the turtle trying to not let his anger consume him.

 _'Sensei may have made me leader, but he did **not**  made me be their keeper.'_ He let loose a growl and his eyes narrowed with disgust from the thought of the word that reminds him that he can never gain his freedom, even if he and his brothers were to take care of one of the few actual reasons he can't leave his family. _'In fact, I don't have to always be their for them if I don't want to when I know that they can take care of themselves.'_

_**Pup not incorrect; Omega-Brothers and Beta-Brother can't always have Pup be there for them in times of trouble or peace. Kins no longer pups, despite still being too young to be off on own, and have been trained by Alpha to defend and protect selves... Alpha may have placed Pup as leader of team and to protect Kin, but did not place Pup to keep constant eye on Kins when not engaged in battle.** _

Leo smirked at the words his instincts just said to him, bringing him some ease and comfort that at least somebody, even if that somebody isn't a person but is either a voice or an actual instinct, understands what he's getting at.

 _'And this is why I prefer to listen to my instincts much more than my_ _conscience, especially when the situation isn't involved to an actual fight.'_ He then placed the tip of his colored pencil back on the paper, quickly shading in the side of a building before his conscience will once again blind him in rage with another of its suggestions or words of wisdom.

_Sorry for trying to make you see reason and see which is the best decision for you to choose, for the sake of your family and their safety._

Setting both the color pencil and sketchbook down, Leo stood up from his bed and made his way towards the other side of his bedroom, standing in front of the dresser that stood in front of the wall that held no pictures or posters. As quick as a whip that lashes out onto its victim, he brought his right-hand out to form it into a fist and punched it against the wall, leaving a small crater into the hard surface of his wall.

 _'And by "best decision", you mean keep me in place to prevent me from gaining my freedom and to be forever bound to the Pack.'_ He thought to himself, pulling his hand away from the dented hole in the wall and letting his blood from the wound on his hand to spill and drip onto the floor. "I knew that I should've left the Pack before I finished recovering from the fight with the Albino Crocodile I had five years ago, rather than staying here and to be constantly watched over by the guys and Sensei." He whispered softly to the empty silence of his room, letting loose a low growl that slowly grew into a low snarl.

_You know very well why you didn't leave them back then!_

_'Uh, yeah, because you wouldn't stop_ _guilt-tripping me that I'm hurting my family and will wound them even more if I runaway again, while I'm still healing, and that it was my fault Raphael nearly gotten himself killed by the Albino Crocodile!'_

_Which is true, for he wouldn't have any reason to be in the Crocodile's territory if you didn't leave the Lair!_

And just like that, after hearing the last sentence, Leonardo could no longer hold back: He snapped.

"SHUT UP!"

Just like that, his patience broke and with no thought or thinking, the turtle bashed his head against the wall of the crater,  _hard_. The dent in the wall grew and new cracks were formed into the brick-cement wall from the powerful force Leonardo used to have his head be able to damage the hard-structure of the wall. With now both his hand and head bleeding and a major crater in the wall caused by both head and hand, the turtle remain trapped in his own little world within his room. Gasping for breath to calm his raging heart and feeling the stream of blood coating his mask and straps and staining the floor and dresser with his red-liquid life of blood, he pulled his head away from the crater he made and pulled up the top drawer of his dresser. Inside, laid a few extra spares of blue-masks and a bunch of rolled up straps, which he held on to for just in case the mask and straps he wears were to ever tear off or hold something that would worry his family and give away what he's been doing without their consent.

Letting out a major deep sigh, he reached for a blue-mask at random and grabbed for a smaller-roll of straps, while closing his eyes to prevent blood from getting into his vision and, after removing it from his face, used his now blood-stained mask to wipe away the blood off his face and the floor, before applying it to the wound to make the bleeding stop sooner.

"You don't have to keep reminding me on what almost happened, when I was able to prevent it from happening." He whispered, breathing through his mouth than his nose, for wanting to avoid smelling the scent of iron his blood carries. "Even if it was me that had Raph to invade the Albino Crocodile's territory, at least he was able to escape and not sustain any form of injury from the croc's claws or fangs."

_Even so, you still brought him to danger and at this very moment, your brothers are probably going to get spotted and Father will-_

_'Do you **want**  me to snap, again?'_ Leo interrupted, his anger once again building up and his patience already reaching its breaking point.  _'_ _Keep this up, and I'll go on a rampage and get another lecture from Sensei for interrupting his alone time.'_  Silence followed suit and immediately, the anger died down.  _'Thank you...'_ He didn't need to wait long for the bleeding to finally stop and after wiping away any more traces of blood on his face, he wrapped the mask around his right-hand and then put on his new mask over his face. "Now, if there are no more interruptions..."

_**Tap! ~Scrape~ Tap! ~Scrape~ Tap! ~Scrape~** _

Leo almost didn't hold down a groan when the sound of his door shaking from somebody on the other side prevented him from going back to drawing.

"And of course, that's too much to ask." He muttered, slowly making his way towards the door. "What is it, you guys? I'm not in the mood for whatever plans you guys want to do?"  _'Also, when did they get back? I didn't hear them come in and they're always noisy when returning to the Den... Maybe I was too focused on the conversation I was having with my conscience or perhaps it was tending to my wounds that distracted me from hearing them out... God, I hope they didn't listen in on my conversation.'_

**_Tap! ~Scrape~ Tap! ~Scrape~ Tap! ~Scrape~_ **

The sound the door was making, rather than the usual heavy knocks from his brothers or their usual shouting behind the metal-door, sounded like small but sharp-claws scraping into the hard materiel, which the turtle knew it doesn't belong to any of his brothers or his sensei.

_'If it ain't the guys, nor Splinter, and that kind of tapping can't actually come from April... Then who's that knocking my door?'_

**"Leo! Danger! There is danger! Hurry!"**  Leo knew instantly who that voice belongs to and, with no sound of his sensei nearby or the arrival of his brothers and April to return from the surface, the blue-masked turtle opened his door just enough for the owner of the voice to come in, which turned out to be a rat that Leo knows very well in the sewers.

" **Seafra** *! What are you doing here? Is there something going on with the Colony?" He questioned the dark-brown and white rat, who looks to be having trouble grasping the right words to tell the turtle why he came to the Lair. Holding out his uninjured hand, Leo allowed the rat to climb into his palm and be lifted up to get on the turtle's left-shoulder and rest on his dark-smooth skin.

 **"Colony no danger! Leo's Pack in danger! Brothers in danger!"** He exclaimed, still trying to get his breath back but already starting to breath easier. Leo's eyes narrowed at what his little-friend just said, even when the creature hasn't regained his breath.

"What do you mean that the guys are in danger?" He then stared at the door, still left open only wide enough for rats or smaller to be able to get into his room. "Where are  **Valerio*** and  **Kyra***?" Once the rat finally caught his wind and no longer gasping, did he finally gathered his thoughts to what to say.

 **"They're following your brothers,"**  the rat answered.  **"While** **scavenging for food from the tunnels, we saw your brothers and a human-girl heading for the surface, without you accompanying them. We knew you would be with them against your will when your Alpha orders you to keep an eye on your brothers, but when we saw you not with them, we knew and sensed that you stayed at the Den to calm your anger, so we followed."** The rat then sat up, sitting on its hind-legs and cocking its head to the side to show confusion.  **"They said something about finding Purple Dragons. Do you know what they mean about finding purple, mythical creatures?"** Just hearing the name that ticked him off earlier tonight raised the fire within his heart and allowed the anger he had to spike back up.

 **"Nani**  (What) **?"**  He growled, which the rat knew from his tone of voice that he and his siblings were right that Leonardo's brothers are in danger, along with having to greatly make the turtle mad as heck. "They're above the surfacing, looking for the Purple Dragons, at this very moment?" The fur on  **Seafra's**  back slightly spiked up, feeling the cold chill going down his back in knowing what he's about to tell the humanoid-wolf/turtle isn't going to make him very happy at all.

**"Well, uh... Actually, Leo... A human senior of a fish store told the human-girl your brothers were with and... Well, told them where the Purple Dragons are hiding at."**

* * *

**Ten Minutes Later, at the Old Chinatown Tattoo Company...**  
"For all the arrogant, stupidest decisions they have to make...!" He snarled to himself, skidding to a halt and standing on top of the roof of a building that's right next to where his rat-friend told him where his brothers are told to where the gang hangs out. Panting out to catch his breath, his eyes scanned out the area, mostly at the shadows, for any signs of his brothers or a gang member of the Purple Dragons.

_Before you do anything when you find your brothers, why don't you try and calm dow-?_

_'"Calm down"? You want me to **CALM**  Down?!'_ He yelled in his thoughts, baring his teeth and letting out growls of frustrations when he couldn't find any sight of his brothers in his vision.  _'Have you forgotten what **Seafra**  just told me?! My brothers ignored my words, disobey my  **order** , to not go after the gang, and are most likely making things worse if they'd already found the Purple Dragons hideout! What else?! April helped them on their little scheme to teach the humans a lesson for beating up a person, which she had no business or right to butt in with our mission!'_ _  
_

_She's now a Kunoichi, which makes her part of the team and an active member of the mission._

_'She's just a trainee, meaning she isn't a Kunoichi! Let alone an actual member of the team!'_

_Even if she is a trainee, she's still a Kunoichi and is part of the team, whether you accept that facts or not!_

_'And who said that she's part of the team?! If I recall, for the past several weeks, Master Splinter has never allowed her to come into our missions when in fights with the Kraang or the Foot! He keeps her within the Lair whenever we're off fighting for the city to train her and the only time she does interact into the mission, is during recon or for entail!'_ He then stomped his foot into the edge of the roof, forcing part of the drip edge that's been installed to the edge of the roof to loose some of its shank nails and to bend in an odd angle.  _'From what I see, she has the usefulness as a carrier pigeon!'_

**_Pup, despite She-Pup not truly proving self and Pup not having any more reason to trust She-Pup April, She-Pup has neither passed or failed test. Yes, what She-Pup did is downright_ ** **_rebellious and irresponsible, but was able to be great use to Kins by getting information, without blowing cover or acting suspicious to the human who told She-Pup where the Curl-Tail humans have been spotted. Even helped out on some fights from previous fights._ **

Leonardo's eyes narrowed from what his instincts has informed of him, distracting him from part of the anger he has bottled within the depths of his heart and soul for so long for a brief moment to think about what his instinct has informed him about.

**_May not be part of test ** _She-Pup April_**  must pass to earn trust, but does show sign She-Pup be of great use to Pack, once She-Pup completes training and allowed to fight along side Team. Until then, Pup must be patient with She-Pup and give time until She-Pup pass or fails the test._ **

Now in his trains of thoughts, Leo stared up to look at the sky, where the stars stood out dimly in the night sky and the crescent moon giving off little lighting of the twilight day. The wind blew against his face, which the turtle took in a deep breath that calmed his mind and cooled his abnormal body heat from his caged anger of his entire being. The turtle knew that his instinct is right, that he must give the human more time and wait for her to pass or fail his test before he truly judge her of her actions, but that didn't mean it has solved the problem on what his brothers did and are doing at this very moment.

 **"Leo! Over here!"**  A small voice called out, drawing the turtle out of his moment of thoughts to see two rats, a pure-white rat and a blackish-grey rat, waving for him a few buildings north-east from where he stood, in front of a rooftop water tower.

 _'We'll talk about this later. Right now, just keep quiet on the conversation and I promise to not go hard on my brothers when we get home.'_ With that being said and not carrying if anybody were to see, Leonardo ran on all four over the tops of the building and soon stood in front of the two rats who're siblings to  **Seafra**. " **Valerio** ,  **Kyra** , my brothers aren't at the tattoo place that  **Seafra**  informed me they would be at from what the human had told April where the Purple Dragons would be at. Where are they?" The white-rat, a little female, ran up his arm and sat on the right-side of his shell, for he still stood on all four just in case his brothers are in another location that could be far away from where he's at. **  
**

 **"They were here, Leo."** She informed the blue-masked turtle.  **"A slim human, who wears black-leather clothing and has purple mythical creature on arm, came out of tattoo shop and went into abandoned Fortune Cookie Factory."**

 **"Your brothers followed the human and went inside of building, just a few minutes ago, but they'd not came out of building."** The blackish-grey rat, a male, cut in to the conversation, as he now stood on the ledge of the roof they stood on and pointed a paw towards the building across from where they are.  **"Soon after they went inside, strange humans who all wore black clothing that even covered their faces and had red-bandana with a foot-symbol on their forehead burst through the factory from both sides of the building."**

In front of the building, is a big sign that has a giant fortune cookie in the center of the sign and covered in dust, meaning this place hasn't been of use in years. 'Killer Cookie, Fortune Cookie Co.', the words spelled out. Leonardo doesn't know much of this place, but he had heard rumors from the pigeons and crows that the Fortune Cookie Factory was immediately condemned after the company had failed the health inspections when rats were found in the building.

At the front of the building, the turtle could see a big hole has just been made in one of the windows, a sign that tells him his brothers caused the hole to appear. leaning in over the ledge and placing both his hands on the ledge beside  **Valerio** , he can hear crashing sounds and grunts of pain coming from inside the building, along with the sound of metal striking and hitting against steel or wood collapsing and breaking from brute force slamming into them. Leo's eyes narrowed and, after taking in a few sniff at the building, let loose a low growl when he caught the scent of the Foot Ninjas, Bradford and the Brazilian human, slowly turning into a snarl of rage when his hearing would catch the sound of his brothers grunting or groaning in pain.

"Anybody else from the Colony in there, or are you two and  **Seafra**  the only ones who followed my brothers?" He asked, hoping that none of his rat-friends are caught in the middle of the fight and getting hurt at this very moment.

 **"Nobody else came with us. We were the only three to investigate what your siblings were doing."** **Valerio**  answered, eyes also narrowing in anger towards the turtle's brothers for coming up such a stupid plan that'll get them killed if the eldest-brother doesn't do something to save their lives, again.

 **"The rest of the Colony are still within the sewers, and are** **scavenger group are still out searching for food at the alleys."** **Kyra**  added, nuzzling her little-head against Leo's right-cheek and hopping into his left-hand when he brought it up to place her off of him.

"Good," he grunted. "You two head on back to the Colony, and be sure to warn the scavenger group to not go to the Fortune Cookie Factory." He reached for one of his Katanas, Musashi, and tightened both hands on the hilt and clenching his teeth together. "I'll take care of the Foot."  **Valerio** and  **Kyra**  stared at one another, knowing that it wouldn't be wise to not do as their reptilian-friend told them to do if their lives would be on the line if they were to join him in the fight or get in the way. And so, without the turtle having to look, both rats turned to leave. Before joining her brother to go down a drainpipe,  **Kyra**  turned back to stare at her friend.

 **"Be careful, Leo."** She spoke softly to the blue-mask turtle and soon vanished within the drainpipe as a shortcut to go down the building, heading for the Colony to pass on the message to her family.

Now standing on the ledge and his hands keeping a firm grip on Musashi, Leonardo made no hesitation to prepare himself to launch himself through the hole of the window and, when catching the sound of a blade being raised in the air, didn't hold back on his strength when he swiftly went through the hole and now stood in front of Raphael, blocking two sets of Butterfly Knives held by the Brazilian human.

"Leo!" Raph cried out, trying to catch his breath while leaning against the conveyor belt that stood behind him to get air back to his lungs.

Not bothering to reply back to his brother, Leonardo simply kept his attention on the human in front of him and, using just enough of his strength, shoved him back, forcing the Brazilian to skid backwards to the second conveyer belt. At that moment, two Foot Ninjas came down from the upper-floor and aimed their swords at the blue-masked turtle, who immediately grabbed for Kamiizumi and blocked both attacks at both sides. He then pushed his blades down, thus forcing the ninjas to lean down with their weapons, and then thrust himself forward, jabbing both hilts of his blades against the humans' throat and forcing them to the ground to catch their breaths.

"Well, look who finally decided to join us." The Brazilian human stated, picking himself off the conveyer belt and twirling his Butterfly Knives like Raph would do with his Sais. Seeing the two ninjas won't be getting back up until they can catch their breath, Leonardo turned his attention back to the human he pushed away from his younger-brother and himself. "We were just wondering when you would be joining your brothers to their deaths, after you would tell us where your master is." The blue-masked turtle glared at the Brazilian human, letting loose a low growl at the mentioning of his sensei and planning to take the lives of his brothers.

_They came to the Purple Dragons to figure out where to find you and where to look for Father... Your brothers just handed themselves over, without bothering to check or see if the Foot would actually show up._

_'Well, of course they just handed themselves over; they were too focused on wanting to teach the Purple Dragons a lesson on beating up Murakami-san and to be sure they get the message to leave him alone, that they didn't even bother to head my warning that the gang is allied with the Foot Clan or to even use their senses to be sure the gang was completely alone.'_ "What business do you have with our sensei, human?"

"The name is Xever, turtle." The Brazilian, now known as Xever, corrected his new opponent. "And what our master has in store for your sensei, is his fate ready to be sealed, like it should've been fifteen years ago." His Butterfly Knives once again twirled within his grasp, the blades ready to slice and rip open flesh or block attacks however their user wants them to be used as. "Prepare to become turtle soup, Reptilian."

 _'Oh? He likes to do insults, does he?'_ Leo let out a smirk, knowing exactly what to say to the human before him.  _'Okay, I'll give you an insult or two that he won't ever forget.'_

"We'll see about that,  **Macaco** *" Bradford, who had pinned both turtles to the conveyer belt, turned his attention away from his opponents and stared awestruck at what the blue-masked turtle just said to Xever. And speaking of the Brazilian, his eyes widen at the last word to the sentence his opponent just referred to him as.

"...What did you just say to me?" He questioned softly, slowly tightening his grip on his Butterfly Knives. Leo, seeing the reaction, simply snickered.

_**Pup has Brazilian human walking into trap. Keep it up, Pup. Get human more angry to have rage blind him.** _

"You heard what I said," he answered. "Since you decided to come up with an insult for me, I thought we should keep it even by giving you an insulting name, too. And hey, it was either that, or  **Macaquito** * and you're  _way_  too tall to be called that, unless you used to be a  **Macaquito** when you used to be a child."

Raphael, who finally caught his breath and holding off a Foot Ninja by using his sais to grab hold of the ninja's sword, simply stared in confusion at what his brother just said to Xever, while Donatello and Michelangelo chose to take the opportunity to break free from how distracted their enemy is at the moment. The human before Leo began to take the bait on getting angry, as he grind his teeth together and his trembling from the extending tightening to his knives in his hands. Xever no longer sees a reason to hold back or to play games with the turtles, for he's now seething in rage and, after kicking two of the Foot Ninjas aside, charged at the turtle.

" **Como você se atreve**  (How dare you) **!** " He blurted out, jabbing both knives towards the turtle, who caught the two knives by crossing his Katanas together in front of him and simply leaned back against the conveyer belt, keeping on the smug grin on his face. "WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO MAKE A MOCKERY OF MY PEOPLE?!" When he leaned in forward to push down as much as he could for his Butterfly Knives to try and sink into flesh, basically the turtle's face, Leonardo caught him off guard by using both knees to lift the human off the ground and flinging him towards the wall.

"Hit a nerve, did I?" He questioned the Brazilian, who got back to his feet and taking in raging breath like a bull at a rodeo would do when ready to kill whatever in front of it moves. "Well, if you don't like me calling you by either of those names, then how about  **Tifuti** *? Does that sound a whole lot better to you?" Xever ceased his deep rage breathing for a full two-seconds, then he let out a roar cry and charged at the turtle.

"I'M GOING TO SKIN YOU ALIVE,  **MUTANTE**  (Mutant)!"

Xever got on the conveyer belt and leap into the air, the blades of his knives aiming down to tear into Leo's arms to prevent the turtle from defending himself while he's withering in pain and at his mercy, until a great force swiftly rammed into him and sent the both of them towards a stack of crates. Said mass that rammed Xever to the now destroyed crates, turned out to be Raphael, who rolled himself off to the side and grabbed for his fallen Sais, while trying to get back up and fight off against three Foot Ninjas. Donatello and Michelangelo, who had been able to free themselves from Bradford's grip, were now being pinned into the wall by a couple of Foot and waiting for Bradford to reclaim his hold on the two youngest-turtles, which they're still making it hard for him to do from them breaking free from the ninjas' hold and twirling their weapons all around them to shield themselves from the enemy's grip.

The Purple Dragons, who are covered in bruises and having a few scratch marks that bled on their skin, merely hid themselves behind the giant wooden figure and watch the fight continue on. One of the Purple Dragons, the one Leonardo had allow to leave Murakami's noodle shop after pinning him in defeat, held gaze of fear when their eyes met each other's gaze, thinking that the turtle is going to come after him and his group, like his younger brothers just did before the Foot came to assist Bradford and Xever.

Usually, when he sees an enemy, Leo would make no hesitation to attack those who are the cause to harm his family and/or innocent people. However, because the human had showed his submission to the leader in their last encounter at the noodle shop and isn't the actual threat at this very moment, the turtle knew picking a fight with him and his gang won't stop the battle anytime soon, which isn't turning out so well for the three younger-brothers.

 _'We can't stay here any longer,'_ he thought to himself.  _'The guys are getting too tired to keep going and, judging from the bruises they're getting, won't be able to defend themselves much longer.'_ At that thought, he made a quick beeline towards the three Foot overpowering the hotheaded turtle and rammed all three of them against the wall, forcing the hilt of Musashi into jabbing a Foot's right-shoulder to dislocate the bone and thrust his left-knee against another's leg to damage it just enough to give the ninja a broken leg.

**_Pup, get Omega-Brothers and Beta-Brother out of Purple Dragon den, then stay behind to fight back and hold enemies off, to allow Kins to make it back to Den._ **

_No! Get your brothers and leave the fight! There's too many of them and you can't hold off both Bradford and Xever on your own! You can barely hold one of them off on your own the last time you fought them, let alone the both of them at the same time!_

_'I'm going with my instinct's plan; I don't run from fights that has my family's life on the line, even if the odds are against me.'_ Leo thought to himself, as he turned his attention to Xever, who slowly came out his dazed-state from the shattered wood-pieces of the crates he still laid in.

_NO! You must leave with your brothers! NOW! If you get captured, your brothers will come after the Foot! And if that happens, they'll_ _ probably end up getting caught in the Shredder's trap, which will then force Father to save you all and end up getting himself killed! _

_'My brothers may be idiots to come up with a stupid plan to attack the Purple Dragons, without scoping the area for Foot Ninjas, but they no better than to go against my orders once I tell them to head back to the Lair and to not comeback for me, while I hold off the enemies.'_

_Which they'll then ignore your orders, like when you told Raph why you wish to not find the Purple Dragon's hideout in the first place, and the four of you will still be held captive until Father shows up! Either way and whichever choice you make, will end up putting the whole family in danger!_

Leo kneeled beside Raphael, who kept on insisting that he's alright and can keep fighting, while glaring up towards the upper-floor of the factory when he heard Mikey and Don letting out cries of pain when Bradford finally grabbed them and thrust them down to the bottom floor and on top of the conveyer belt.

_Deep inside, you know that you and your brothers are losing the fight. If you four wish to see another day and if you want to be a day closer for your freedom, then put aside your instinct to fight and leave the battle until you four are completely prepared for it._

He wasn't too thrilled that his conscience is making him give up a fight and to not even try to give his brothers enough time to get away from the fight, but he knew that it was right. As such, even if he despises it with all of his hate, the turtle must listen to his conscience.

 _'_ ** _Chikushō_**  (Damn it) _ **!** ' _He cursed out in his mind.  _'Why, in situations like this, does my conscience have to make me become so weak?!'_  "Turtles, fall back!" He called out to his brothers, sheathing up Musashi and Kamiizumi and helping Raph to his feet, who had to use the wall on his right to keep him up, before launching himself in the air and giving Bradford a good old mid-air three sixty kick to the face. The force of the kick was strong enough to send Bradford hurtling towards the new group of Foot Ninjas that made another hole in the building and land at an alley, giving the turtles the perfect chance to make their escape.

"We're giving up? Again?" Raph questioned his brother, catching a Foot's sword with his sai and doing a crescent kick to force the ninja to the ground. "You kidding me?!" Placing the injured genius turtle over his shoulders and getting Mikey to get on the back of his shell, who had to wrap his arms and legs tightly over Leonardo's chest and abdomen area of his plastron, the blue-masked turtle turned to stare at the red-masked turtle and give him deadly glare.

"Raphael, if you want to live long enough to properly yell at me, then clamp your beak shut and get us out of here, before I personally shut your beak up for you!" He yelled, keeping a firm grip to keep Donatello over his shoulder with both his hands and sneaking a quick glance on Michelangelo to be sure he doesn't start sliding off of his body from behind. Seeing that he has no choice but to listen and obey his brother's command, Raphael lead them up the stairs, at the same time barreling in to any Foot that chose to get in his way and soon had them out of the building by jumping through the hole in the window that he and his younger-brothers made when they chose to make their appearance by charging in.

_"Hey! Stay and fight, **você covardes sangue frio**  (you cold-blooded cowards) **!** "_

Xever's voice called out to the turtles, angering the blue-masked turtle into almost ditching his brothers to continue the fight with the Foot. However, because he's carrying two of his brothers on his back and shoulder at the same time, it's already taking up a lot of his energy to keep up with Raph and to not stumble back or to the ground when pushing himself to leap over the gaps of the buildings and landing on to the next rooftop. Leo would've gladly handed Don or Mikey over to Raph, which he's thinking on handing Mikey over because on how heavier he is than Don, but the red-masked turtle is already having trouble to keep himself steady and to not let his body collapse in mere exhaustion.

Skidding to a halt to catch his breath and letting Raph to lean over the ledge to get a few moments of breathing, Leonardo scanned his eyes down at the alley below them, immediately catching the sight of a manhole-cover, their ticket back to the Lair.

"Raph, Mikey! Manhole-cover, down below!" He gasped out, removing his right-hand, that's been keeping Don's legs from kicking his and Mikey's head or sliding his shoulders, to tap the orange-masked turtle and signal him to get off his shell.

"Ah, good! Finally!" Raph grunted out, sliding Mikey's left-arm over his own shoulders to help him down the fire escape ladder, while Leo chose to jump down from the ledge of the roof, landing on the hard pavement of the road and wincing from his legs taking a major impact from the heavy deadweight of his purple-masked brother. Shaking the pain off, the turtle stood over the manhole and kept an eye out for any humans that would dare to come there way, until Raphael finally removed the cover and all four of them made their way inside the sewers for the Lair.

**TBC...**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to be skipping a few episodes and going on with other episodes into the stories, with some of the skipped episodes to be recorded into Leo's Journal or mentioned later on into the story (or not be mentioned at all, give or take). Also, I have no idea what that giant wooden person that the Purple Dragons have are called (may need some help on that, or will take me awhile to figure it out).
> 
> Seafra*: Seafra is Irish for "Peace from God".
> 
> Valerio*: Valerio is Italian and Latin meaning "Valiant".
> 
> Kyra*: Kyra is Latin, American and Greek that means "Light".
> 
> Macaco*: The Argentinians call Brazilians "macacos" (monkeys in Brazilian Portuguese language) because they are more racially mixed. Specially used in soccer confrontations [I don't like, nor support, Racial Slurs, but I have to get Leo to make Xever angry by calling him something that gets on his nerve].
> 
> Macaquito*: The Argentinians call Brazilians "macaquitos" (little monkeys) because they are more racially mixed [Again, need Leo to make Xever angry, despite my disproval of the racial slur].
> 
> Tifuti*: Black Brazilians. Word for "#*&&*%" in Brazil [Trust me, you don't want to know what this word means and I advise you to never, and I mean NEVER, NO MATTER WHAT, use this word at all (And that goes for the other words before this one!).].
> 
> Sorry for the long wait you guys and for my story seeming a bit off; just been tired a lot and have to finish up the first part of college. Also, my mom's been pestering me on what classes to take for next semester, and both she and her boyfriend won't shut up about the driving/getting license/car issue; it's really giving me a headache, getting on my nerve and I'm about ready to snap (I hate cars, don't like driving [I also get nervous when behind the wheel, especially when it's a shift gear] and prefer to get around places by either foot, bike or horse. However, living in the mountains that's twenty to thirty minutes away from town by car, isn't gonna allow me to do either of the three options).
> 
> R&R


	7. What Happened?

**Back at the Lair...  
** Master Splinter, who had finished his meditation session just minutes ago, paced himself within the living room, sensing something very wrong has become of his sons. He wasn't sure what it was, but he could feel that something isn't right with the team and that a great anger has befallen on one of his children, which, surprisingly, isn't Raphael this time. And already, the wise rat has a hunch on who is the one sealing that great anger, but it isn't just from sensing the presence coming to the Lair.

The moment he awaken from his meditation, Splinter sense something wasn't right and that his home has gotten awfully quiet... Well,  _quieter_ , than it usually gets whenever his three youngest sons go off on their own. Even if his eldest son is the most experienced and most skilled amongst his brothers to accomplished the Art of Invisibility, the rat's strong sense of hearing were to allow him to pick up the sound of his son's shallow breathing or at least a slow-tone beating of a heart from outside of the Dojo. Fearing he'd meditated for far too long to allow the blue-masked turtle enough time to leave the Lair, Master Splinter made a beeline out of the Dojo and to the door of Leonardo's Bedroom, where he found the door left open by a mere crack.

When he allowed himself inside of his son's room, without bothering to knock or call out to his son if he were still in, he was horrified to find the room empty and his son's katanas nowhere in sight.

He wasn't sure how long he was in his meditation or when Leonardo exactly left the Lair, but from what he could guess from how he could feel a very faint heat spot on the bed, it was most likely over ten minutes ago when the turtle chose to leave the Lair, without informing his sensei about it, and is probably above the surface on his own or could be searching for his brothers. Splinter prayed it was the latter. He, himself, would go up to the surface world and search for his sons, but with the Foot Clan also in New York and the Shredder looking for him, the rat has to remain hidden in the sewers and guard the Lair, just in case the Foot would think about searching for their home underneath the city. Even with that sort of knowledge being the only excuse to prevent him from going out to find his sons, the overprotective-father inside of his heart wasn't satisfied by his choice and is demanding the fifty year-old to risk his own safety to go look for his children, his  _babies_.

And he almost did and was about to listen to his fatherly-instinct, when his hearing caught the sound of feet heading for the entrance of the Lair and his reddish-brown eyes caught sight of  _all four_  of his sons returning to him. Unfortunately, his happiness immediately turned to fear and worry when he saw a barely conscious Donatello being lifted in a fireman's carry position by Leonardo, as Raphael had Michelangelo leaning on him and his arm draped across the hothead's shoulders. Without any hesitation, Master Splinter made his way to his sons at the couch, where Leo gently placed the genius turtle on the couch that gives its sitters better sighting at the opening of the Lair and Raph guided their youngest brother on the other couch that faces towards the direction of the small TV.

As the blue-masked turtle backed away from Donatello and made his way to the kitchen, Master Splinter kneeled in front of his purple-masked son, using his hands to help him on his search to figure out what sort of injuries the genius turtle has sustained, which he eventually found from his examination that the third child is suffering from a sprained right-arm and a mild concussion. Taking a glance to his other two sons, Michelangelo, who laid out on the other couch on his plastron, seems to only be suffering by the simple sores that his shell and plastron had to endure for taking the major blows for him and the bruises on his arms. Raphael, who made his way to the practice dummy, appears to also be bruised a bit and his timing on his kicks were a bit slower, indicating that he pushed his body a bit too far and is having some muscle strains in his legs.

With all the information he gained from the three turtles, their father let out a sigh of relief, happy to see his sons had returned home with unserious injuries and are going to be alright after some rest and a few Shiatsu* sessions, though he'll have to put Donatello on strict bed rest and prevent him from doing anything in his lab that'll cause him stress or strain his brain, which also means he's forbidden to attend training sessions until his concussion is gone.

"What has happened?" Splinter questioned his sons, setting himself on the couch and placing Don's head on his lap, as he begins the Shiatsu session on treating the turtle's head by using the tips of his fingers, minding his claws, and gently did circular-motion on both side of the turtle's scalp. Mikey simply avoided his father's gaze, not wanting to be the one to tell the rat what has happened, for knowing Raph would then cut in and change their story to what they did. Raph simply continued on beating the dummy, ignoring the aches his legs are making him feel. "My sons?" Their father asked again, continuing his Shiatsu method with the genius turtle with the circular-motion but removing his gaze to stare at his other two sons, confused and a little annoyed on them not answering his question.

Hearing the flap of the Noren being pushed aside slightly, He turned his eyes to Leonardo, who came back from the kitchen and held out a small-towel that holds a couple of ice cubes from inside, glaring at Raphael with disappointment and anger spelled out within his deep-blue eyes. Unlike his brothers, the eldest turtle appears to be unharmed and completely fine. However, Splinter knew he wasn't okay on the inside and can sense the raging anger escalating the more Leonardo glared at Raphael and to the rest of his brothers... And he wasn't sure what or why, but he could smell the scent of copper,  _blood_  to be exact, coming from the eldest turtle.

"Leonardo, what is the meaning of this?" The rat asked his eldest son, who pulled his gaze away from Raph and made his way to the youngest turtle, gently placing the towel with ice onto one of the biggest bruises Michelangelo has on him, which is on his left-shoulder and slightly concealed by his shell.

"Ask  _t_ _hem_." The turtle muttered out, keeping his gaze on the bruises his youngest brother has on him from being beaten by Bradford. Raphael ceased his punching on the dummy when he heard his brother talk, which made his own anger stir up when he heard the anger and disappointment the eldest turtle has for his brothers. Pushing the dummy aside, the red-mask turtle stomped his way towards his eldest and youngest brother.

"Passing the blame over to us, Fearless?" He questioned, giving him one of his own glares of anger and disappointment, only his gaze has an extra expression into his glare: Despise. Even if the blue-mask turtle isn't making eye-contact to see the despise in his brother's eyes, he can very well sense the anger and spite building up inside the hothead. Not bothering to talk to his brother, Leo continued on gently pressing the towel of ice on Michelangelo's bruised shoulder and refusing to have any eye-contact with either of his brothers or sensei. "What now? You're not going to talk to us?!"

"Raphael, lower your voice." Splinter ordered his son, giving him a firm-glare that tells the hothead to not test his patience, as he continued with his Shiatsu session on the genius turtle. "Donatello has a concussion and the volume of your voice is further wounding your brother. If you wish to discuss the matter with Leonardo but prefer to raise your voice into the conversation, then I would insist that the both of you should take your argument to the Dojo." He then used his left-hand to point a clawed-finger towards the closed Shoji-door of their Dojo, giving both red and blue turtles a stern look to see if they would do as he say or suffer the wrath of their overprotective father. As a response, Leonardo lifted himself off the couch and gave a quick bow of respect to his sensei.

" **Watashi o yurushite** (Forgive me), Sensei, but Raphael and I cannot deal with the matter of our conversation right now. I'm afraid that there's matter I must attend to, at this very moment." Leonardo told the rat, as he turned and made a quick sprint towards the turnstiles, only to stop in his tracks by said hothead, who gave the blue-masked turtle a warning glare and folded his arms in front of his chest.

"And just where do you think you're going, Fearless?" He growled out, though he has a hunch on what his brother's trying to do.

"Wherever that I'm going, is none of your business nor your concern, Raphael, considering you never once care how the outcome would turnout from the effects of your choices and decision making." The eldest turtle answered, which already gotten on the taller turtle's nerve and his anger spike from the challenging glare of his brother is giving to him, as if daring him to stay in his way from leaving their home and swore on giving him a challenge if he chooses to stand in his way.

"Like Shell it ain't my damn business or concern, when you're obviously trying to go off on your own!" Splinter's ears twitched and his tail smacked itself heavily against the couch, glaring at his second-eldest for speaking such language right in his presence and when Michelangelo is in the same room with them.

"Raphael, watch your language!" He ordered the red-masked turtle, not wanting his son to pass on his swearing to the youngest turtle, despite all four of them being quadruplets. "And Leonardo," he turned his head to stare at his eldest. "I gave you no permission or my leave to go, nor do I want an apology, when all I want from you is to tell me what has happened or have both you and Raphael to settle your argument to the Dojo if you don't tell me what has happened." The blue-masked turtle lowered his gaze to the floor, clenching and unclenching his hands to be his source of distraction in order to not let his anger take control on him to yell at his sensei.

_ Stay calm. Whatever you do, Leonardo, don't take your anger out on Father. _

"Unless somebody will tell me why you four have returned home, injured and bruised, then I cannot allow you to leave, Leonardo."

"As if you and the guys ever let me go off on my own, when it isn't involved with scouting the tunnels or scavenging for supplies." The turtle muttered under his breath, already feeling his patience growing dimmer and dimmer the longer he's forced to stay put in the Lair.

_**Alpha's word is law, Pup.** _

_'"And just like Kins, Pup must follow and obey Alpha's every command"! Stop repeating words and lessons that I already know!'_ He yelled in his thoughts.  _'I swear, the next person who pisses me off, no matter who it is, I'm not going to hold back and will start yelling! And I won't care how much of a headache it'll be to Donnie, scares Mikey, or how much it'll disappoint Master Splinter!'_ And he didn't need to wait that long for the next person to speak up and get him angry.

"What was that, Fearless?" It wasn't what Raphael just ask of him that gotten the blue-masked turtle to get angry, but it was what the red-mask called the eldest-turtle by, which was something Leo has always despised for as long as he could remember ever since his brother started calling him 'Fearless'. And because of his hatred towards that name, his patience finally snapped.

 _'...Alright, that does it!'_ "First off, Raphael, stop referring to me by 'Fearless'!" Raph, Don and Mikey's eyes widen at their big brother's voice. "And second, if you have a problem on hearing what I just said, then it should tell you that I didn't want you or anybody else to hear what I just said, considering that you three completely ignored my orders to not go looking for the Purple Dragons and nearly gotten yourselves killed by Xever and Bradford!"

"Going to bring that up, again?! Is that the only excuse you have on why you're blaming us for what happened, when  _you_  told us to not do a thing about it while  _we_  try to do something that we believe would help Murakami-san be safe from the Purple Dragons?!"

Removing Donatello's head off of his lap and placing a pillow for the genius turtle to lay his head on, Splinter pressed the cushion against the turtle's ears to block the sound as much as he could to prevent the concussion from getting any worser, along with allowing him raise his voice and get in with the conversation.

"Michelangelo, cover your ears." He told his youngest son, who appeared to be getting very upset of his two big brothers fighting, again, and seemed to have gotten scared of the eldest-brother raising his voice, but did as his father told him to and grabbed for two pillows to cover his ears. Now with both orange and purple-masked turtles unable to hear, the rat was finally allow to get through his sons. "Leonardo, Raphael, that is enough!" And to get through to the two turtle whenever they fight, is by yelling and scolding.

In most cases to the outcome of their fights or whenever Splinter yells at them to stop, either both turtles would stay quiet as their father told them to, or Raphael would continue on with the yelling and shouting... Which is what he chose to do, even when his master ordered him and his brother to stop fighting.

"But it's the truth, Sensei!" Raph then pointed a finger at his brother. "Leo not only decided to become a coward, but he also made us look weak by having us retreat from a fight! A fight that  _he_  caused to happen, if he'd hadn't let the Purple Dragons go or suggested that we don't go looking for their hideout in the first place! If he'd only finished the job, not only would Murakami-san be safe from the Purple Dragons, but Mikey, Don and I wouldn't be coming back bruised up from our fight with the Foot! Heck, we wouldn't go against his orders to not find their hideout, if he wasn't such a terrible leader and the worst brother to have on the team, let alone in this family!"

Donatello, who couldn't hear at the moment but was Lipreading to what Raphael was saying, gasped in shock to what his brother just said. Michelangelo, who can neither hear as well or lip-lead like Don or Leo, simply stared in confusion to what was going on. Splinter was stunned to his son's expression to what he was saying in anger, and Leo... Well, despite widening his eyes a bit, the surprised and stunned look on his face immediately went away and was soon replaced with a blank face, keeping his gaze to the ground and refusing to glance back up at his brother.

 _'...I knew it,'_  he thought to himself.  _'I knew he always felt that way, and I bet Mikey and Don would think the same thing as well... I knew Master Splinter made the wrong choice on picking me as leader.'_

_You know that Raph doesn't mean it! He always talks out of anger, with no thoughts to what he's saying or how his words hurt you until after he calms down!_

_'Yeah, right. And whenever he loses his temper, again, he does and say the same old thing: He blames me, claims that I never get in trouble and makes up excuses to avoid punishment, and finally he yells on how I'm a terrible brother and will then wish that I wasn't his brother, let alone had never been hatched or ever been made in the first place.'_ His heart felt as if something just stung it with venom and is slowly turning it to stone, making it feel as if it's having trouble beating from the numbing pain inside of it.

_**Fights and weapons may leave physical scarring that could implant permanent markings on skin, but words leave emotional and at times mental** _ **_scarring, and in most to nearly all cases, their wounds are from mostly to almost always permanent... Alpha told Pup and Kins many times that words can be used as weapons, too, like Pup did to Brazilian-human, and Beta-Brother Raphael knew very well how much he wounds Pup when wishing they were never Kin in the beginning. Unfortunately, Alpha also gave the "Sticks and Stones" lessons many times, without neither items present, having to make Pup and Kins to shrug off the harsh words that leaves wounds much more serious than physical pain and not knowing how to heal properly from the harsh words._ **

Raph, feeling incredibly guilty for what he just said after taking major deep breaths and seeing the shocked look on Don and Splinter's faces, felt a pang in his heart when he saw how his words had once again wounded his brother by watching the stunned look in the Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes go blank, meaning that the eldest turtle is pushing back the pain and hiding it deep inside of himself.

_'Oh, god... Not again... I did it, again! Me and my stupid, big mouth and my shell-for-brains_ _head!'_

"...On second thought, Sensei, since it seems that nobody here cares on what's going to happen to Murakami-san, I'll tell you what happened." Leonardo's tone of voice was low and cold, but still sounds normal enough for anybody to believe he was alright, if Raph hadn't seen his hurt look being replaced with a blank face to use as a mask to conceal his hurt that his words caused to inflict on the young leader.

"Leo... Bro, I didn't me-" The red-mask turtle tried to apologize, but was cut off by the older turtle.

"Save it, Raphael." He then glared at Michelangelo and Donatello, who kept their eyes on the fight the whole time but were unable to hear what was going on. "Just be quiet for one second and listen up, which means Donatello and Michelangelo need to hear this, as well." He then placed both hands to his head, pretending to hold something to cover his ears, and then pulled them away from his head, silently telling the two to uncover their ears and listen to what he has to say, which the both of them did. "I want you all to listen, and to listen well, because I'm only going to explain myself only once to why I didn't finish off the leader of the Purple Dragons, when I was given the chance to do so."

"Leonardo, perhaps we should discuss this some other ti-"

" **Iie** , Sensei! You wanted to know what happened this evening, so I'm going to tell you what exactly just happened!" Raph, Don and Mikey's eyes widen when they heard and watch their big brother, who always obey and follows their father and sensei's every word, to actually cut off Splinter in the middle of a sentence and to disobey his suggestion.

_Leonardo, this is going a bit too far! Just drop the subject for now and listen to Father!_

_**…Must agree with Conscience on this, Pup; talking back to Alpha and cutting Alpha off in middle of sentence, even going far as to disobey Alpha's order, will head for terrible punishment and hold back to future for Pup's freedom. Pup must stand down and calm down, before situation grows worse.** _

Leonardo nearly scoffed to what his instinct just said, as his anger rose when he heard his instinct's not only isn't going to back him up, but is also, in very rare occasion, agreeing to what his Conscience is telling him to do.

 _'Like Murakami-san is probably going to be held hostage by Bradford and Xever and his life's going to be in danger, doesn't count as a situation getting worse?! Well, it's too late for that!'_ "You wanna know how and why your sons got badly hurt and are injured?" He questioned Master Splinter, but wasn't going to give him enough time to answer back. "These three imbeciles, along with April, as you may already know, chose to ignore my orders to not look for the Purple Dragons and went off looking for their hideout! Then, out of stupidity and probably wanting to get it done or to start a fight too soon, without so much as to scope out the Fortune Cookie Factory or even bother to look inside for any sign of the Foot Clan, they barged through the window, which the gaping hole in the window became proof of their action, and ended up in a fight they weren't ready for or strong enough to go through!"

"At least we were able to-!" Donatello tried to get into the talk and try to explain to their leader of what they were able to accomplish from their mission, but immediately clamped his beak shut from the cold-glare Leo was giving him.

"You were able to accomplish what, Donatello?! Find their hideout without thinking for a moment if Foot Ninjas were waiting for you three to come to them? Beat up the Purple Dragons, while trying to hold yourself off against Bradford and the Foot Ninjas? Nearly getting yourselves killed by our enemies, so that you three can beat some sense into a three-member gang of Chinatown?!" Mikey flinched from his brother's tone, which seems to be more scary than Raph's own yelling whenever the orange-mask ninja finds a way to tick him off from pranking him. "Well guys, guess how that plan of yours ended up! Not only did you three nearly ended up costing your lives in that fight, nor did you nearly put April's safety and the safety of other victims to the Purple Dragons at risk on being caught for telling her where their hideout is, but you guys had also put Murakami-san's life at stake! Because of your poor judgement and inability to think for a moment on how to help Murakami-san out with the gang or even think for a second to go full stealth at the hideout, he's in grave danger and would no doubt be held hostage by Bradford and Xever to get us to come to them!"

Confused looks plastered on the three turtles' face, while Master Splinter finally understood what his eldest son was doing all this time and to why he didn't want his brothers to immediately go looking for the Purple Dragons.

"Hold Murakami-san as a hostage? Why would they do a thing like that, bro?" Raphael question, surprisingly asking in a calm voice and hoping that with him speaking calmly to his big brother, that his brother's anger would also go down and talk normally to them. Unfortunately, the red-mask ninja's plan didn't work.

"Because, Raphael, since we helped Murakami-san at the Noodle Shop when the Purple Dragons were beating him for protection money and because you three wanted to finish the job to make the message clear to stay away from him, the Foot would know of a way to get to us so easily and know that we won't retreat from a fight if they were using somebody they believe has become our new friend! No doubt about it, that they're beating the truth out of the Purple Dragons to tell them where they last saw us and why we picked a fight with them!"

"But, Leo, wouldn't they just told Bradford and that other guy where Murakami lives at, even if we hadn't barged in?" Michelangelo asked, who Leonardo, no matter how angry he is, could never yell at the orange-mask turtle. Yes, he can yell at Raphael and Donatello, and yes, he can yell while the youngest turtle is present, but the blue-mask turtle would never yell or shout at the baby brother of the group. So, Leo held down his anger for a moment and answer Mikey's question, though his voice still held the anger that he's feeling and taking control of his emotion.

"They would've, Michelangelo, but not without being given a motivation to tell them, like getting paid to give out information to what they know. And even if the Purple Dragons told Xever and Bradford about Murakami-san, they would come to believe that we would come and attack them if they ever cause any trouble." He then pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling the headache coming up and his anger still forcing him to take it out on his brothers the longer he remains with them and not up to help their new friend from the Foot Clan. "That's why I didn't want us to go looking for their hideout immediately. If we made them believe that we'd only come if there's trouble or if they cause problems, and had used stealth, we would've known by a safer distance and objective that the Purple Dragons are working with the Foot and be able to fight smart the next time we go up against Bradford and Xever."

He then turned his head and glared at Raph, who had a look that tells the eldest turtle that he now feels completely stupid.

"Unfortunately, that's not going to happen, because  _some turtles_  and their human-friend decides to go rouge and give away on why they came to their hideout!"

_...Despite that not being the entire anger you had stored up inside of you, at least you were able to get rid of some of the anger on how you're feeling... Although, there's a certain feeling that you're not done or haven't finish criticizing them yet._

_'Oh, I'm far from being done! The longer they keep me down here and prevent me from going up to the surface, the more I'm going to yell at them until they finally get tired of hearing me talking to them and have me go to the tunnels to cool off!'_ "If my hunch is correct, which they most likely will be, then I won't be surprised if April comes running down here to tell us something happened to Murakami-san!"

Right on cue when he finished his sentence, the Hamato Clan heard the sound of footsteps coming their way, which were running towards them, and going through the turnstiles, April came into view.

"Guys, guys!" She cried, going down the steps and allowing herself to bend over her knees to catch her breath. "There's trouble, at Murakami's! The-!"

"The Foot Clan and Purple Dragons trashed the place, grabbed Murakami-san and left us some sort of ransom note or message and is demanding us to meet them at an area to fight, or else they'll kill Murakami-san if we refuse to show up."

Not only did the redhead stayed quiet when Leo caught her off in the middle of her sentence, but because she was completely stunned to what the blue-mask turtle just said and wasn't sure what to add in to his discovery.

"...How did you know all that?" She wasn't the only one completely startled or stunned that Leonardo already knew what she was going to tell them, for the Hamato Clan couldn't believe that the eldest-turtle was right to what their mistake just cause to happen. By her question, the blue-mask turtle glared at her and stalked his way towards her.

"Simple, it's because I knew something like that was going to happen the very moment you  _four_ had decided to take matter into your own hands!" Never knowing how scary the eldest turtle was when he lets his anger take control, the redhead felt very afraid of the sword-weilding turtle and took a step back in case he tries to grab her. Sensing her fear and being the closest to her, Raphael moved over and placed himself between his brother and human-friend, who he has already come to acknowledge her as his human-sister.

"Hold it right there, Leo! Don't go putting the blame on April!" The hothead told his brother, placing a hand on Leo's shoulder and pushing him slightly back to keep his distance away from April and to prevent him from yelling in front of her face and make her even more afraid of him than she already is.

"Raph's right, Leo! It wasn't April's fault! She was only helping us out and all she did was get us information on where to find out where the Purple Dragons hang out!" Don backed up, slightly sitting himself off of the pillow that still laid in Splinter's lap, only to feel the pain in his temple to force him back to laying his head back on the pillow.

_Your brothers are right, Leo! You're really pushing it and taking it too far, putting the blame on April when she was only helping the team out!_

_'First off, like I said before, she's a trainee, **not**  an actual member of the team! Second, she's also to blame to what happened for helping them figure out the hideout of the Purple Dragons!'_

_**...Though Pup shouldn't place blame on She-Pup April, Pup is right that She-Pup's also part of fault for Kins reckless action for justice to Blind-Elder... However, being a newly member to Pack and still must prove self, Pup not punish She-pup like Pup does with Kin. Although, Pup may scold She-Pup for being involved with Omega-Brothers and Beta-Brother's plan.** _

"But she also knew that by helping you three find their hideout, she had placed you three and most likely our sensei in the line of fire! She knew that she didn't have to help out, that she could simply back down and let us handle the situation on our own, which would've given us enough time to come up with a plan to take the Foot down before they even think about getting their hands on Murakami-san. Instead, she made a fatal mistake that's going to spell 'Disaster' for us all... She's just placed the whole family at risk, and gave both the Shredder's Lieutenants and right-hand men a chance on how to get Master Splinter for their master!" His Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes glared anger at the human. "...And to think that I actually trusted you enough to keep this family safe from our enemies... My mistake."  _'And like an idiot, I thought she would prove to me that there are humans out there who would actually welcome us with open arms and become worthy allies to keep our secrets!'_

_How could you say that to her?! Like Don and Raph just said, it wasn't even her fault! Even if she had told them where the hideout is, your brothers could've chose to head back to the Lair and hold off beating up the gang! So, basically, it's entirely your brothers' fault, not April's! Now, she's going to feel completely guilty and responsible for what's just happened to Murakami-san!_

_'Good! It should teach her a_ _valuable lesson: **Never**  engage yourself to a right or on a mission, without the leader's permission to do so or the leader being there to navigate the team through the plot of the mission.'_

Hearing that she may have completely destroyed the eldest brother's trust in her, April felt even guiltier than she originally did for going behind the leader's back, after she had told the three younger turtles where the gang were known to hang out in Chinatown. Her steel-blue eyes held pain to what she did to her friend and they look as if they're begging for him to forgive her for betraying his trust in her.

"Leo... I didn't mean to-"

"Save it...! I don't have time for this," he told the human. "Because right now, Murakami-san's being held captive and his life's on the line as we speak the longer he's in the hands of Bradford and Xever." Letting out a sigh and having a feeling that his brother isn't going to come at April, Raph removed his right-hand off of Leo's left-shoulder.

"Leo's right," he said. "We need to go back up to the surface and rescue Muraka-"

"Wrong." Leonardo cut in, glaring up at his taller brother. " _I_ need to go back to the surface and rescue Murakami-san.  _You_  three, are going to stay put and rest." Splinter, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo all had their eyes widened in horror when Leonardo just told them what the plan is and what the three brothers are to do, almost like he just told them that he was going to join forces with the Foot Clan.

"What?! But we're fine, Leo! Really!" Mikey spoke up, forcing himself to get off of the couch and move towards his big brother, only to have his arms give out and remain laying on his plastron on the couch.

"Right... Not going to fly," the blue-maks turtle stated. "You three just went through a near death battle with the Foot Ninjas, and barely made it out of their with your lives. And even if you were to come along, Donatello and Michelangelo, you would only get in the way and your injuries would just make you two a liability." The two youngest brothers knew that he was right and there was no use arguing with the turtle if he had a point to why they can't come along to save Murakami.

"Mikey and Don may be too wounded to come along, but I'm perfectly fine, Leo!" Raph butted in, pulling out his twin Sais and giving them a small twirl of performance to show off how ready he is to get back into the fight. Leonardo wasn't amused by his little show.

"Sorry, Raphael, but I'm not going to allow you to come along, as well." Emerald-green eyes widen to what his brother just said to him, which then glared into anger.

"What?! Why not?! I'm not going to hold you back when we get into a fight or anything, and the only worse wounds I have are some bruising that won't get in my way on fighting!" Waiting for what excuse his brother was going to make up to prevent the hothead turtle from coming along to the fight.

"Because, Raphael,  _you_  were the one who suggested to disobey  _my_  orders and are the reason why our brothers are badly hurt. Not only that, but because you went behind my back... I'm afraid that I can't trust you to fight along side with me, let alone follow my lead on how to save Murakami-san. After all, you claimed that I'm a terrible leader, meaning that you won't follow an order a 'terrible leader' would give you to follow." Guilt once again spread throughout Raph's entire being, regretting on ever calling his brother a terrible leader. Leo then stared at his brothers, who also held disappointment on being forced to stay behind. "You three brought this upon yourselves, and now you three are going to suffer the consequences of your actions. And Sensei," he stared into the reddish-brown eyes of his master. "You may deny it all you want or even forbid me to not go, but you know that it has to be done, for the sake of saving Murakami-san on time and to not let another innocent person be killed by the hands of the Shredder."

The fifty year-old humanoid-rat lowered his head and flattened his ears, for he knew that his son was right. Despite hating to face facts that there's no other way to talk the eldest turtle out of it, he stared back up at his son and nodded his head once, giving the turtle his permission to go and for Raphael to not hold him back from leaving the Lair. Leo was a bit stunned when he gained his sensei's permission to leave, but quickly pushed that thought behind and sprint towards the entrance of the Lair.

"Leo, wait!" Skidding himself to a complete stop, almost ramming himself into one of the turnstiles, Leo turned his gaze to the caller who ceased him from running, which was April. "I can help you to at least find out where they could be holding Murakami at." Holding in a growl, he simply gave her his angry glare, meaning that he's still angry with her.

"...I don't need any help," he told her. "I'd figured out where my brothers were when you helped them find the hideout on my own, and I can do it again with finding Murakami-san. Besides, I think you've helped quite enough for one day, so we can't afford to have any more screw ups to interfere with the mission." The redhead lowered her gaze by his words, sadden that he now won't let her help him or give her a chance to correct her mistakes she had caused.

_...Now do you see why you have problem interacting with humans? You're too strict and serious all the time, and you hardly show any kind of emotions and rarely hang out with April that tells her she's your friend and vise versa! Fix this, and let her know that you care about her like your brothers do, now!_

Seeing the hurt look on her face for refusing her help and knowing that his Conscience is right that he should try to get along with her, Leo let out a deep sigh.

"...Just stay in the Lair, April. In case the Purple Dragons had mentioned you into telling Bradford and Xever on who else was with us at the Noodle Shop during the fight on protecting Murakami-san, it would be best if you stay low and hidden until the situation is taken care of."

Her steel-blue eyes widen from how softly he spoke to her that time, making her feel a bit better and more reassured that he truly does care about her, despite them rarely hanging out with each other and him avoiding her whenever she comes over to see them unless she's to be involved with the mission.

_There, now that wasn't so hard or bad. And hey, you didn't severed your bond with h-_

_'Shut it. Just because I made her feel a bit better and know she can stop causing problems by staying put, doesn't mean I've forgiven her that quickly for what she's done.'_ He turned his gaze away from her, avoiding to see each other eye to eye and stare back to the darkness outside of the Lair.  _'We'll debate on what to do about April breaking my trust in her, after we take care of the Purple Dragons and save Murakami-san.'_

_**Pup is right. Blind-Elder needs him, much more than Pack does at this very moment.** _

Just as he was about to go off, once again, somebody stopped him from leaving and, feeling the hand on his left-shoulder and how tight the clenching was, he knew that it was Raph.

"How will we know that you won't go running off after the fight and that you'll come straight home?"

_'Raphael, I **swear**  to merciful God, that if you guys keep on stopping_ _me from leaving the Lair, then Bradford and Xever aren't going to be the only ones to have blood on their hands!'_

_You can't blame him for stopping you with such a question, especially when he and your family wants to be sure that you do return. Is that so wrong, for your brother to simply worry of the_ _ possibility for a repeat to happen all over again? _

_'...In other cases, it doesn't. However, in a life and death situation, or even in the position that I'm in of the Hamato Clan, it is.'_  He turned his head to the side, staring into the eyes of his younger brother that held worry and, in some rare occasion, fear, that's being hidden by his most common known emotions and feelings: Rage, anger and envy."...That's just it, Raphael. None of you guys can trust me to comeback when the fight is over, if I can't trust any of you to follow my orders, let alone give me a chance to go off on my own above the surface and to return on my own..." He let loose a low growl, though he made sure that his growl wouldn't make him sound like a killer animal. "I'm afraid until we can all start trusting each other and be able to work together, we are no longer an actual team." He then yanked his shoulder out of Raph's rough grip, and gave his brothers a final glare of anger and disappointment he holds and feels for them. "I hope you're all happy for what you've done... Oh, and one more thing, Raphael:  **Anata no negai ga kanau koto o negatte imasu**  (Hope that your wish finally comes true) **.** "

Emerald-green eyes once again widen in horror to what Leo just said to him, but the blue-masked turtle ignored the stunned glance Raph was giving him and, not going to have anybody else hold him back, the turtle pushed his body to leap over the turnstiles and sprint into the darkness, leaving behind the horrified glances of his family and a confused human-girl to what he just said to his brother.

April may still be new to learning Japanese, but she can tell that whatever Leo just said to his brother isn't good at all. She turned to Master Splinter and Donatello, where the turtle seemed to be use to whatever it was his big brother just said to Raphael but his Mahogany-brown held fear to the words, and the rat looks just about ready to remove himself off of the couch and go after his now rebellion child. She then had her gaze on Michelangelo, who looked as if he just woken up from a nightmare and, like a little kid, wanting his parent to reassure him that everything was going to be alright and his nightmare isn't real.

"What did Leo just say?" She asked the orange-masked turtle, seeing that the youngest to being the only possible candidate to answer her question and, for a fact, being more openminded than the rest of the turtles, despite still being stunned for what his big brother just said to Raphael.

"H-He..." Mikey stuttered a bit, before clearing his throat to get rid of the lump that had formed its way inside his neck and better at being heard to for answering the girl's question. "He just told Raph-"

"Something I should've never said to him five years ago." Raph interrupted, keeping his emerald-green eyes glaring down at the floor underneath his feet and clenching his hands tightly into fists. "Even when I told him that I never meant what I said to him, he still thinks that I meant it whenever my big, fat mouth makes me say anything similar to what I told him when we were ten." April's curiosity got the best of her, that she didn't think for a second to what her next question she was going to ask the turtles and rat.

"...What happened five years ago?" The three brothers stared to one another, silently having their own conversation on what to tell the girl, while Splinter flattened his ears and lowered his reddish-brown eyes to the ground, refusing to meet the worried glance of the ginger's steel-blue eyes or speak a word to her question. Finally, it was Donnie that broke the glance and let out a deep sigh.

"It's not really our place to say, Apr-" Stomping her foot, the girl cut off Don's sentence.

"Oh, c'mon, you guys!" Before any one of the turtles or Master Splinter would tell her to drop the topic, she continued on with her ranting. "I may have only known you five for no more than a month and a half, but you're all family to me! Including Leo!" Four pairs of stunned eyes gazed up to the girl, but their glances didn't prevent her to continue on with her yelling. "He and I may not had spend as much time as I do with you three and Master Splinter-"

"Actually, April, you and Leo never spend time together, unless we're involved on a mission and whenever Donnie or you suggested on coming to help us out." Mikey cut in, earning an annoyed look by the purple-masked turtle.

"Besides the obvious point, Mikey. He's still family to me, just as much as you four are. And since you five are now my family, I have a right to know on what's going on and why you four are scared and were trying to prevent Leo from saving Mr. Murakami on his own!"

Silence followed soon after her outburst.

"...She is right, my sons." The three turtles turned their gaze to Splinter, with the look of defeat written all over his face.

"But, Sensei-"

"No, Raphael. April's part of our clan, our family, and has kept the secrets of our existence from the humans, which she still continues on guarding." He then gently lifted Donatello's head, along with the pillow, off of his lap and set it back down on the couch after removing himself off his spot on the couch, before making his way to the human-girl. "She not only earned the right to know, but she indeed has the right to know about our secret fear."

And so, guiding her towards the other side of the couch Mikey laid in and gesturing Raphael to take his old spot where Donatello sat his head up from, Splinter took a few steps back and kneeled himself in the center of the floor, keeping his focus and attention on the girl.

"April, what my sons and I are going to tell you is something that we, along with Leonardo, don't ever want to bring up or talk about. For you see, five years ago, a terrible argument and a would-be tragedy almost taken my eldest child away from us... And, had almost caused him to leave the clan for good."

April cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"I don't understand, Master Splinter. What sort of tragedy are you talking about, and what do you mean by 'leave the clan for good'?"

Rubbing his eyes to clear his vision and get rid of any feelings of sleep that Splinter caused him to feel from the Shiatsu session, Donnie answered her question.

"...April, there's something you should know about Leo." The girl made no attempts to interrupt, so the genius turtle decides to continue. "Believe it or not, which you may already figure out the answer, Leo's... He's different from us."

"'Different'? Different how?"

"He's not like the rest of us." Raph stated, who had his arms folded staring back to the entrance of their Lair.

"April, for as long as we can ever remember and had lived our lives as humanoid-animals, Leonardo didn't behave or interacted like Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo or even myself did from the very beginning of our lives being forever changed." Splinter informed the girl. "You see, when our life as a family began, it didn't started out as peaceful or happy as it should've been. While Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo interacted and behaved like human-infants would do, back then, Leonardo would only sleep. He would rarely make a sound, hardly move from where we used to sleep before I was able to find beds for all of us to have, and, sadly, would nurse the less than his brothers."

"Really?" April said, kinda surprised and looked a bit concerned to what the rat just told her about his eldest son. "You didn't think that he was hibernating back then... Or do you guys not hibernate?"

"No, we do hibernate, but were able to avoid hibernating when we were eight, after I was able to build us a heater to keep us warm during the cold season to avoid sleeping during the Winter." Donnie pointed out. "As for Leo, he couldn't have been hibernating. Back in nineteen ninety-seven, Spring came early and the temperature was a bit over average. Not only that, Raph, Mikey and I would've also hibernated as well during that time if the temperature was too cold for us to handle for being cold-blooded. And even if Winter lasted longer, he would've woken up somewhere near the ending of March."

"My only conclusion, during that time, was that the mutagen that caused our mutation could've somehow be the reason why Leonardo slept for eight months straight." Once again, Splinter lowered his head and his ears flattened a bit. "I almost lost him during the eight months raising them when they were infants, but by some sort of miracle and my unwillingness to give up on my son, he finally woke up and was perfectly fine."

"The only problem back then, he behaved more like an animal than a human, even though we four started out as animals. He would walk on all-fours and refused to walk on just his feet until Master Splinter got him to break the habit at the age of five, he didn't began to talk until we were three and a half and during the time when we would actually try to play with him, he would simply cock his head to the side and just sit in his spot until we either leave him alone when we gave up on getting him to play or Master Splinter instructed him on how to play and told him to play with us until we gotten tired of the game."

April showed not that much of a surprise to Don telling her on how the eldest turtle was in their childhood, though she was stunned to hear that the blue-masked turtle was pretty much a late bloomer and somehow still has his animal-like instincts and behavior than the younger turtles do.

"...Okay. But what does that have to do with whatever that happened five years ago?" Wanting to get it over with, Michelangelo began the story.

"I got this one, Dudes. I'm really good at story telling!" Raph and Donnie groaned and shook their heads, but neither butted in or stop him from starting the story. "Five years ago, back when we were ten, we were doing evening training session, as usual. Only, on that day, it was actually a special day for us because it's the very day we were finally given our weapons. And, as always, we had a winner and a sore loser... Only, this time, the sore loser decided to pull a stunt that nobody thought he would ever do..."

* * *

 **Flashback: Five Years Ago...  
** " **Hajime**  (Start) **!** " By the command cry of their sensei, the four ten year-old turtles charged towards each other, with Raphael and Donatello coming for each other and Leonardo and Michelangelo doing the exact same.

"You better watch out, Leo, because I'm finally going to beat you!" Mikey declared to his big brother, as the young-turtle twirl his very own weapons, the nunchucks, and tries to get his opponent off guard by either whacking his weapons, the Katanas, out of his hands or get him in the head to stun him long enough for the youngest turtle to trip him off his feet and pin him down to be declare the winner of their fight.

However, just as the turtle brought his weapon down, all he hit was the air in front of him and in his confused state on figuring out where his opponent went, he unknowingly backed up into a shadowed corner and, still not being able to master on sensing all his surroundings, lost both his weapons from behind and pinned down to the floor, wrapped within his Kusarigama's chain and his legs bound together by the Nunchaku.

"You were saying, Mikey?" Turning his head to the side, the youngest turtle saw it was his big brother, Leonardo, who had beaten him by binding him within his own weapons and didn't have to use his Katanas, which he had sheathed up when he concealed himself within the shadows to get his brother from behind. Knowing he has been defeated and has lost the fight, Michelangelo let out a pouting sigh.

"Never mind," he answered.

As Leo got off his brother and unbound him from his weapons, Raphael and Donatello continued on with their fight, with Donnie seeming to be getting the upper hand by keeping his distance from his brother with the help of his newly obtained weapon, the Naginata Bō staff.

"This is your last chance, Donnie. Put down the staff, and nobody's going to get hurt."

"You told me that last time, Raph, and you ended up hurting me."

"Yeah, but I probably would've hurt ya even more than I would had, right now, if I wasn't in such a good mood today."

Twirling his Sais in his hands, Raph charged, barely dodging the jab of the Bo staff if he hadn't pulled himself back and slid pass his brother by sliding across the floor on his knees. In the middle of the slide, he positioned both his Sais to grab for the end of Don's Naginata Bō staff that the purple-mask turtle tried to use to bring down the hothead turtle and when the twin weapons grabbed for the wooden staff, the red-mask turtle used all his strength to force the end of the Bō down to the ground. The sudden force of a stronger user bringing it backwards, caused the Bō staff to shove its master to the floor on his back, along with one of its end that's been locked on by the sais to break. Now with his newly obtained weapon broken and laying on his back on the floor, Donatello knew that he has lost the fight with Raphael.

"You should've listened to me when I told you to put down the staff, Donnie... You should've listened," he told his younger ten year-old brother. As Don went to slowly picking himself off the ground and moving his way to sit in front of the tree next to Mikey and behind Master Splinter, Raph and Leo stood on opposite sides of the Dojo. Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes calmly gazing into the Emerald-green eyes, which held fire and anticipation on wanting to beat the eldest son and to become the winner of the fight, as both turtles kneeled and bowed to each other in respect to wish their opponent luck and for a good battle.

" **Onegai shimasu** (I humbly ask; please)." Leonardo said to his brother, respecting the Code of Bushido.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Leo. Let's do this, already!" Raph replied back, having a bit of trouble to stay still any longer on wanting to fight his big brother.

Both stood to their feet and brought out their weapons, with the eldest turtle only holding out one of his Katanas, Musashi, instead of both weapons like Raph held out. The two brothers then charged at each other, with Leo bringing down his sword and Raph blocking the attack with both of his Sais crossed together in front of his face. For being the strongest of the group, Raph had no trouble at pushing the Katana away from him and slowly backing his brother towards the wall, right underneath the small shrine that Splinter made for his deceased wife and daughter. Seeing that his older brother's at his mercy and pushing the blade towards its wielder, the red-masked turtle smirked in triumph.

"Give it up, Leo. I already won!" While holding back the blade as much as he could from his face, Leo saw that one of Raph's Sais had locked itself on to his blade, giving him an idea on how to get back at his hotheaded brother.

"Don't bet on it just yet, Raphael." Earning a confused look by his brother and before he saw it coming, the blue-masked turtle turned his blade to the right, forcing his brother to lean on his left, then, stunning all three of his brothers and Splinter, tossed his blade towards the right, with the Sai that was held in Raph's hand still gripping to the blade. Emerald-green eyes stared wide-eyed in shock to what just happened, giving the eldest turtle the chance to take down his brother.

He instantly forced his legs to part from each other, having him doing the splits, which caught Raph's attention when he felt a gust of wind in front of him to go down, then the eldest turtle placed both hands in front of him to help shift himself and used his right-leg to trip Raph off his feet. His brother flat on his shell, Leonardo launched himself on top of Raph and pinned him to the floor, having to pull out Kamiizumi before he launched himself to pin down his brother and holding the blade up against the younger-turtle's neck. Feeling the blade pressed up against his neck, Raph froze and his eyes held an instinct of fear that his brother was going to kill him with his own weapon.

 **"Yame** (Stop) **!"**  Leo lifted his glare from his brother and stared up at their sensei, who stood from his spot and gave the eldest turtle a firm nod to silently tell him the fight is over. Glancing back at his trapped brother and giving him a small low growl, he removed Kamiizumi from his neck and leap himself backwards to release his brother, putting the blade back in its sheath and calmly making his way to the other end of the room to retrieve Musashi.

Rage coursed through Raph's veins, angry that he had lost the fight against his brother and humiliated that he had shown and felt fear when he was supposed to be the strongest and bravest turtle in the family. Allowing rage to take control, he got to his feet, stomped his way towards his brother and grabbed him by the back of his shell, pinning him to the wall.

"Raphael!" Splinter scolded, rising to his feet but stayed in his spot when Leonardo gave him a quick glance over to tell him that he would handle it on his own.

"What the hell was that about, cheater!?"

"Raphael, language!" Splinter once again scolded and would've made his way towards his two eldest children to give the hotheaded turtle a good whack in the head with his Jade-cane for swearing, but Leo simply held up his hand to remind the rat he would handle the situation.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Raphael. How was it that I cheated, when I didn't do anything that's considered unfair for you to even call me a cheater?" Raph snorted at his brother's question.

"In case you've forgotten, Leo, which you already did, we were supposed to use our weapons while fighting against each other! All you did was block my attack and tossed your weapon aside, which doesn't seem to be very smart when you were pinned down to the floor. Shell, you didn't use your weapon when you were battling Mikey! You broke the rule, which makes me the actual winner of the fight!"

While Donatello and Michelangelo rolled their eyes in annoyance, Leonardo simply gave the redhead turtle a plain gaze, knowing that what he was going to say to him would burst his bubble and gloating.

"Actually, Raph, Master Splinter never said that we were supposed to use our weapons in order to win." The smirk on Raph's face went away, replaced with confusion and the start of an anger rising. "This match was a free-for-all and in many free-for-all matches, we're giving the choice and option on how we choose to fight our opponents." He then raised his right-hand and shoved the hand that kept its grip on his right-shoulder off, making the younger-turtle to release his hold. "Either way, Raphael, I would've still won the fight, even if we were told to use our weapons in battle, for the way of the ninja is to be unpredictable and do whatever it takes to win, which even means being unfair and to cheat if that's what it takes to be the victor."

"What?! That's not true!" Raph stomped, refusing to admit that Leo's right and he truly did win the fight. "It's a lie!"

"If we're to one day go up against an actual opponent, Raph, do you think they'll actually be fair with us when we fight?" Leo gained no response, answering his question that he's right and, after sheathing up his discarded sword back in its sheath that he strapped on his back to prevent the sheaths from getting in the way, made his way to the other side of the Dojo and placed his sheathed weapons on the rack. "I thought so." He then turned back to stare at Raph, who stood in the same spot to at the wall the eldest-turtle was once pinned to, and bowed to silently tell the red-masked turtle he fought well and was a worthy opponent. " **Yoriyoi un jikai**  (Better luck next time), Raphael." He then turned to Splinter and also gave him a bow in showing his respect to his teacher, then quietly made his way to the Shoji, knowing that practice was over and wanting to head for his bedroom to let his body rest for tomorrow's training session.

 **"Iie..."**  Raph's word ceased Leo's retreat to his room, along with confused glances from Donatello, Michelangelo and Master Splinter. "No... I don't believe it." Raph turned his head to glare at his brother, anger and rage still held within his Emerald-green eyes, as his hands clenched tightly into fists. "You broke the rule, Leo! I won the fight!" He then stared at his father. "Tell 'em, Sensei! Tell 'em that I won!" Instead of getting the answer he wanted their father to say, Splinter simply let out a deep sigh and shook his head.

"I'm afraid Leonardo doesn't speak, nor has he done, any sort of error in what he said or what he has done in the fight, Raphael."

"...What?" Stunned eyes widen in confusion and a little of hurt. "But, Sensei, you always told us to fight fair and to never cheat our way to win!"

"Yes, it's true that I want you all to fight fairly when in combat, but when it comes to protective our home or defending each other, then you're to do whatever it takes that you become the victor, even if it means that you'll have to cheat in order to stay on top." His reddish-brown eyes turned to his eldest child, who stayed in his spot and showed not even the slightest sign of any satisfaction that his sensei's on his side. "Though I may not had permitted such action to be taken when training, I shall allow this to slide this one time, for we need to be reminded that we mustn't always come to believe our enemies will truly fight fair, along with that I never telling any of you to not cast your weapons aside for thinking none of you would pull a stunt when you've all just gained your weapons."

" **Nani**  (What)?! But, Sensei, that's not fair!" Raph complained, making his way to stand in front of the rat.

"I'm afraid it is fair, Raphael, if I haven't instructed you four to do something that's opposite to what you know you're to do, until I finally made a decision or come up with a rule to what action you four had done to have finally make a rule against it."

Jealousy grew in the turtle, building up his rage towards his big brother.

"You're just saying that because you favor  _Leo_  over us, like you always do!" Don and Mikey gasped at their brother's words, while Splinter's eyes widen from being stunned by his son's choice of words and the eldest turtle simply looked surprised, but shook it off and let loose a low growl.

"That's not true, Raph!" Leo butt into the conversation, standing next to his brother and glaring into his gaze. "Sensei doesn't favor me over any of you guys. He cares for all four us,  _equally_ , he doesn't favors one of us over the others!"

"Liar! We know he cares about you more than the rest of us!" Raph yelled back, shoving his brother back with both hands and almost knocking the eldest off his feet. "Whenever Mikey, Don and I do something bad or mess a move up when training, Master Splinter scolds and/or yells at us until we get it right! Whenever you do something bad, he makes up some lame excuse for you to avoid getting yelled at and don't get punish at all!" He then poked his index-finger against Leo's chest, which could've left a painful bruise if not for the Plastron being in the way. "Whenever we try to show Master Splinter our special talent, you have to go off being a show-off and steal his attention away from us!" Another painful jab of a poke to the chest forced the blue-masked turtle to flinched a bit. "He always pays attention to you and gives you all the loves you want, because you're always being Mr. Perfect all the time and for being such an ass kisser!" Another poke in the chest and a light wince Raph got from his brother. "You still going to tell me he doesn't love you more than us, because that sounds like favoritism to me!"

"Raphie, stop! You're hurting him!" Mikey called out, seeing the look of pain on his big brother's face with every poke Raph gives to him until he once again has his back against the wall and the hotheaded turtle standing in front of Leo to prevent him from leaving, but too scared to go up against his older-brother in fearing he'll turn on him for interfering.

"Shut up, Mikey!" Raph yelled, too angry to feel any sort of guilt on hurting his baby brother's feelings.

"That's enough, Raphael! Stand down!" Splinter ordered, making his way towards his two eldest and grabbing Raphael by the right-arm, pulling him away from Leonardo.

"No, Sensei, it isn't enough! Not when it comes to  _ **him**_!" Raph pointed a finger at Leonardo, who remained standing in front of the wall he was just pushed up against. "You think you're so perfect, that you try to have us be just like you, don't you?! Well, guess what? We're not going to be like you and there's no way in Hell do we ever want to be like you at all! And whoever wants to? You're just a stick in the mud, who does nothing but train to be better than us, and tattletale on us whenever we do something bad and to get us in trouble!" He then yanked his arm out of Splinter's hold, but stayed in his spot in the center of the Dojo. "Why did we had to be stuck with you as our brother? You don't play with us, you don't talk to us unless you're giving us an answer that doesn't require a nod or a head shake for yes or no questions! Hell, you don't even think like we do! I still wonder why we even have you here at all!"

Splinter, Donatello and Michelangelo didn't like where Raphael was going in the conversation.

"Raph, please sto-!" Donnie didn't get the chance to finish his sentence to stop the hotheaded turtle, because the next thing he said to Leonardo was something none of them, not even Hamato Yoshi, thought they would ever have to hear coming from their own.

"I hate you! You're the worst brother to have ever live, that I wish  **Otousan**  had never picked you when we were still turtles! I wish you'd never hatched, so that you never existed to begin with!...  **WATASHI WA ANATA DAKE DE SHINU SHITAI** (I WISH YOU WOULD JUST DIE), SO THAT WE WOULDN'T HAVE SUCH A USELESS MISTAKE FOR A BROTHER WHO WE NEVER LOVED AT ALL IN OUR ENTIRE EXISTENCE!"

Silence went around the room, with the only sound being the harsh panting the red-masked turtle made from having to scream as loud as he could at his brother from the center of the room. Once he felt a major load that's been pressed heavily on his chest had finally lifted and his anger disintegrating, did his mind began to become clear and notice the stunned and horrified looks on his younger brothers and father.

"L... Leo?" Mikey's voice, that quivered in fear and worry, drawing Raph to turn to the direction of his older-brother... With a stunning sight that he never thought he would see from his brother: Leonardo, the eldest quadruplet amongst the turtles, had his eyes widen and head bowed, having his horrified look staring down at his feet.

His body shook and his hands clenched into tight fists, little trail of blood seeping through his three fingers and dripping onto the tatami, along with the sweat that dripped off from his face that some were still made from earlier in the fight on trying to overpower his brother. He tried to control his breathing, which sounded as if he was having a panic attack or was hyperventilating, but the turtle has no control over his breathing, not when the hot searing pain in his chest kept on attacking his heart and burning up into his lungs and throat.

Raphael saw how much his words had damaged his brother and immediately, he regretted every word he just said to his brother, knowing by his cleared mind that none of the words he told the eldest turtle was true.

"...Leo?" He knew that he won't be able to fix the problem with just a simply apology, but he wasn't sure what else to do besides to tell his brother he didn't meant it. "Bro, I-"

" **Yappari**  (I knew it, I thought so)." Leo whispered, who was finally able to get control of his breathing by taking deep breaths and remove the horrified look on his face, but his voice sounded a bit cracked for him to not be able to hide his hurt from his family. He lifted his gaze and, only keeping his eyes on Raph, gave him a glare that nobody could tell if he was angry or upset. "I always knew you hated me, but I had hoped you'd actually cared about me at all, even once in our life...  **Watashi no misu**  (My mistake)." Despite wanting to just run out of the Dojo to get away from the negative atmosphere hanging around them, Leonardo held back the urge to run and gave his brothers and sensei and low bow. He then slowly lifted himself upright, broke the gaze between him and his brother and calmly made his way towards the Shoji.

Having a terrible gut feeling in his stomach, Splinter held a concerned look on his face.

"Leonardo?"

" **Nemasu**  (I'm going to sleep)." The turtle answered, not bothering to make eye-contact with the humanoid-rat and slowly sliding the Shoji open. He took two steps outside of the Dojo and before he closed the Shoji, he spoke on last time. "And Raphael, if what you said is how you truly feel and if that would make you happy...  **Anata no negai ga kanau koto o negatte imasu**."  
 **End of Flashback...**

* * *

"He then closed the Shoji, locked himself in his bedroom and we didn't see him for the rest of the day." April's eyes remained wide in horror, not believing what she heard Mikey just told her about the argument, until her gaze went to Raphael, who sat on the edge of the couch Mikey and herself are on and kept his gaze down.

"...You actually told him that?" She gained a nod from the red-masked turtle and her shocked expression changed into anger and disbelief. "I can't believe you would say something so awful, so  _hurtful_ , that you didn't even try to apologize to him!"

"I know, I know!" Raph grunted. "I've gotten a major tongue-lashing by Mikey, Don and Sensei the moment he left the room and tried to get Leo out of his bedroom to properly tell him that I was sorry, but he wouldn't even talk to me." He then laid his face into his palm, taking deep breath to try and calm down. "I wasn't thinking when I told him those exact words. Hell, I never meant what I said to him."

"Well, if you were thinking up the words inside your brain and commanded your mouth to speak out those words, then you were actually thinking." Earning a deadly-glare by Raph, Don quickly changed the subject. "And not just him, Leo wouldn't talk to anybody for the rest of the day and wouldn't even come out of his bedroom for anything."

"Except he did got out of his room to use the bathroom." An annoyed look came on Don's face.

"Besides that, Mikey, he didn't come out of his room for anything else besides using the bathroom."

"Well, he could've gotten out for something else while we were still training in the Dojo, because we decided to leave him alone to give him his space." Seeing they were starting to get off of the subject, April broke the conversation between the two youngest turtles.

"...Okay, so what happened after that, you guys? Because something tells me this is going to explain why you four are unwilling to let Leo go off on his own." Splinter's eyes flattened and let out a deep sigh.

"I'm afraid you're correct, April, for when morning came the next day, we were unprepared for what we would have to face."

* * *

 **Flashback: Five Years Ago, the Next Day...**  
"Come on, Leo, it's time to come out of there!" Michelangelo called out, pounding his fists against the door to annoy his big brother to open the door. Beside him, Donatello stood at Mikey's left and also knocked on the door when the youngest finally ceased his knocking.

"Please, Leo." He asked, hoping that by asking nicely would gain his brother's attention. "You've been in there for over twelve hours and that can't be good for your health. You've hadn't eaten anything since breakfast yesterday, you only came out to use the bathroom when it was time for bed, and I doubt you've drank any water. Please, will you come on out of your room?" They gained no response, nor heard a sound indicating Leo was going to open the door. In front of the door handle, Raphael grabbed for the handle and tried to force it open with just his strength, but the door refused to budge.

"Leo, open the door!" He cried out, continuously trying to force the door to open by pulling. "Look, bro, I'm sorry for what I said to you yesterday! I didn't mean any of what I just said, honest! I was just angry and jealous that you beat me, fair and square, and was being a sore loser!" His hands off the handle and clenched his hands into fists to start pounding on the door. "This is getting ridiculous, Leo, please come on out of there and let us be friends, again!"

"My sons, what is the meaning for the yelling and banging harshly on Leonardo's door?" The three turtles turned and stared up at Splinter, who didn't seemed confused to what they were doing but appear to wonder why they were all screaming for their brother to come out.

"Master Splinter, Leo's still refusing to come out of his room and we can't get him to open the door." Donnie explained, gently pulling Mikey away from the door to allow Splinter to stand in front of the door. Calmly, the humanoid-rat gently knocked on the door.

"Leonardo, it's time to come out." No sound was made from the other side of the door, which one of Splinter's ears twitched and let out a low moan in thinking his son is pretending to still be sleeping to avoid coming out of bed. Once again, Splinter knocked on the door. "My son, you cannot stay in there forever. It's time to get out of bed and eat breakfast." Nothing. Starting to get irritated, Splinter grabbed the door handle and pulled, only to have the door stay in its place. "Leonardo, unlock this door, this instant!" A couple of tugs on the handle, the door still refuses to budge and remained locked. "Leonardo, open this door, now!" Losing his patience as quick as Raph, though from the cry of his name sounded a bit more of a plead than a command, he pulled out a lock pick from underneath his wrappings of his left-arm and went into unlocking the door. "Forgive me for my act on intruding, my son, but since you won't cooperate with me and refuse to come out, I'm afraid that I must insist on entering and putting an end to this childish game of yours." A couple of twist and turning of the lock pick, the door finally unlocked and opened for the rat when he pulled at the handle.

Just looking inside, the room's completely pitch-black that not even the rat's sharp-vision could detect or see any source of movement within the dark chamber. Reaching out to the side, he felt for the lightswitch and flipped the switch on.

"Leonardo-" The light flickered a couple of times before it stayed lit... Revealing to the humanoid-rat and his three younger-sons that the room is completely empty, with only a made bed and a dresser in their sight. Being the youngest and smallest, Mikey squeezed his way into the room when his father went still in front of the entrance.

"Leo?" He lightly called out, walking towards the bed and bending low to look under the bed. "Leo, are you under here?" Raph and Donnie pushed their way into the room, stunned to find it empty and confused on how and why the door was locked when their brother wasn't inside to begin with. Turning to stare at the dresser, Raph saw something that caught his eye.

"Hey, what's that?" He asked, tugging on Splinter's robe and pointing a finger at Leonardo's katanas, that laid against the wall and next to the dresser. The two blades sat perfectly still against the wall, but what really caught the turtle's attention and now his father is the note taped against the longer sword's sheath. Dread filled Splinter's stomach and his stayed wide eyed, as he calmly walked towards the swords and gently pulled the note off of the sheath. He unfolded the piece of paper that was folded in half and staring at what was inside of the fold, he let out a gasp of horror and his reddish-brown held uncontrollable fear, as his hand that held the note trembled within his grasp and then fell from his clawed-finger, which was then caught by Don.

"Master Splinter?" When he finally given up on looking under the bed, Michelangelo walked up to his father and grabbed a hold of his kimono, noticing the horrified look on the rat's face when he bowed his head and his eyes gazed horrified on the ground. "Sensei, are you okay? What's wrong?"

"He's gone." Raphael and Mikey turned to Donatello, who also had a look of horror, only his eyes had tears in his eyes that trailed down his face and fell to his knees.

"What do you mean 'he's gone', Don? Who's gone?" Raph asked, kneeling down beside his brother and staring at the note the clench in the turtle's hand. "What's on that note?" Annoyed and irritated on the note that somehow caused his sensei and brother to look scared and get upset, Raph unclenched Don's hand with little to no difficulty and soon held the wrinkled paper in his hands. Gently smoothing the paper out the best he could and with Mikey looking over his shoulder, both turtles gets to finally see and learn what was inside the small-paper... Which, upon looking at it, made them wish to have never read what was written inside:

_**"Sayōnara"** _

Raph's hands trembled, just like Splinter and Don had, but he was able to keep a firm grip on the paper. Being the youngest and still confused on what's going on, but with his heart clenching in pain and stomach making him feel sick to his stomach, Mikey's bright-blue eyes formed tears and stared up at his father.

"What happened to Leo, Sensei? What does he mean when he written 'goodbye' in the note?" Placing a trembling hand on his head and slowly kneeling down to stare into the turtle's tear-filled eyes, with tears forming in his own eyes, Splinter calmly told Mikey the meaning of the note's one-word message.

 **"Kare wa nigeta** (He ran away) **."**  
 **End of Flashback...**

* * *

April's sky-blue eyes reflected shock and horrified to what she's been told.

"...He... He ran away?" Lowered heads and downcast eyes were her answer to her question. Her sadness went away and replaced with disbelief and a bit of anger. "And none of you tried to see him, actually made an effort to open his door to see him and try to cheer him up, and didn't think for a moment he was planning on leaving when you thought leaving him alone would make things better?!"

"We thought he needed some alone time and would tell us to leave him alone." Donatello explained, placing a hand on his temple that throbbed and afraid of the ginger being angry at him and his brother, though mostly himself. "That's what we always do, whenever one of us wanted cool off and not take out our anger on the other." April crossed her arms over her chest and gave the turtles a good glare that she didn't see that as a good enough excuse.

"Did any of you ever go through having your feelings hurt by your own brother, been told they wish you never existed and want you to die?" The three turtles stared at one another, then shook their heads. "Locking yourself when you're angry and isolating yourself when you get your feelings hurt or told you're not wanted by your loved ones, aren't the same thing and don't have the same solutions!" She then turned to Splinter. "And you! No offense or any means of disrespect, Sensei, but you of all people should know that and should've told them to be careful what they say to each other!"

His ear twitched from her yelling, but the humanoid-rat didn't dare to lose his patience when he knew he very much deserved to be scolded for his parenting in the past.

"I have told my sons many times to be aware on what they say to each other and to never take words that are spoken out of anger or by an enemy seriously, though I also told them their words are just merely words and don't hurt as much as physical wounds do."

April wasn't satisfied to what he told his sons when they were younger.

"So, you gave them the 'Sticks and Stones' lesson, didn't you?" Splinter gave her a nod. "And you actually believe that trash?" A confused look was all the answer she needed. "You may have given them the 'Sticks and Stones' lesson, but believe it or not, Sensei, that method and teaching is nothing but a big, fat, lie." Confused gazes went around the room, which April had to give herself a facepalm to the forehead. "I'll tell you all about it later. For now, can we get on with the story." Splinter chose to let it go and continue on with the story.

"Of course," he said. "Ever since we found Leonardo's room empty and the note he left for us, I immediately went out to search for him. I failed to find him on the first day, then the second, and on the third."

"Eventually, we gotten tired on having to wait for Sensei and to find him return with little success, that on the fourth day, we were able to convince him to let us help." Donnie cut in. "Unfortunately, even with the four of us out looking for Leo, we couldn't find any trace of him at all within the sewers, tunnels, or the abandon subway station."

"Our search for Leonardo went on for a full month and with not even a single clue to figure out where he is or where he went, I was worried that he went up to the surface and had gotten himself captured by the humans." He then placed both his pawed-hands to his chest and bowed his head, tightly closing his eyes to prevent tears from coming out of him to show his weakness to his children. "...Or that I was too late and my son had perished somewhere in the sewers." Don, despite the concussion, got himself off the couch and calmly placed a comforting hand on his father's shoulder.

"However, before we could even come to one of those conclusion, there were still some places we hadn't thought about to check until Mikey brought it up: The closed off sections of the sewers and the forbidden boundaries close to the ocean that we were told to never go."

"Sensei didn't want us to go any of those places, but agreed to have us checked those places, after we gone through the areas we've been through one last time in case we missed something." Mikey added in, before jerking a thumb at Raph. "However, as stubborn and stupid he was back then-"

"Are you asking for a concussion, Mikey?!"

"Sorry bro, but it's true. Anyway, Raph ignored Sensei's suggestion and once we split up, he went his own way and head for one of the closed off sections of the sewer. And out of all the closed off sections in the sewers, he had to choose the one that has a neighbor we never knew we were sharing the sewers with."

**TBC**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I bet you all can take a good guess to what "neighbor" Mikey's referring to.
> 
> Shiatsu*: A form of therapy of Japanese origin based on the same principles as acupuncture, in which pressure is applied to certain points on the body using the hands.
> 
> Also... To me, the "Sticks and Stones" saying is a load of bull. I know; some of my friends and I had to endure some name-calling during elementary school, and we weren't sure if physical pain hurts more than being name-called and picked on all the time.
> 
> Sorry it took me awhile, again, to post; a friend on Fanfiction asked me to help out a bit on their story. Not only that, as usual, mother and her boyfriend won't stop pestering me or drop the car issue and school work giving me headaches. Not only that... WRITER'S BLOCK, I HATE THEM SO MUCH (and are probably the reason why my writing's seems to be off lately... Either that or it's something else)! Also had my 20th birthday (didn't like or wanted to celebrate [which I didn't, thank god])... I hope nobody in my family is reading this, or I'll most likely get my ear talked off by them on why I didn't wanted to celebrate it.
> 
> Anyway, hopefully, I'll be able to update sooner (if my mother doesn't pest me on learning how to drive or getting my license during the Summer [unfortunately, she got me a car... Great... And I passed my permit]... Yeah, she's going to pest me into driving to get my license...). The good news, I'm finally done with my college class, so I'll probably get some time to try and update some more. Just be patient with me, guys. Alright? I'll update my stories, ASAP. I promise.
> 
> R&R


	8. How Doth the Sewer Monster

**Flashback:** **April 17th, 2007; a Month and a Week Later...  
** "C'mon, Leo. You've gotta still be in the sewer somewhere." Raph said to himself, making his way down the tunnel of a closed off section of the sewer, after removing some of the wooden boards to make a hole big enough for him to get through with ease.

Normally, he nor his brother would ever think about going to any of the closed off sections of the sewers. Mostly, because Splinter told them how dangerous they can be and those dangers, alone, are usually the reasons why they're closed off in the first place. Not only that, but the closed off section that Raphael just entered has a current, which is another trail connect to his, that leads to a large waterfall and a couple of pipes that has the waters leave for the ocean.

Because the water level has been rising because of some non-stop rain they've been having, the preteen has to be careful to not run or move too quickly, for the ground he walks on is terribly wet and if he were to make so much as one slip off the ground, no doubt the current will be carrying him to his watery grave.

"Leo, can you hear me?!" Raph hollered out, his message echoing off the walls and traveling down the tunnel he trail leads to. Nobody called back to the turtle, much to his disappointment. "C'mon, Leo, give me some sign that you're here!" Again, nothing and nobody answered back to him. Tears swelled up in his emerald-green eyes, which he refused to wipe off his face or to even acknowledge them in the moment. "Please, Leo! Give me a clue at least to help me figure out wherever you are, and get you to come back home!"

The only sound he hears are the raging waters underneath the floor he stood on, the random sewer rats who pass him by in search for food and the fading echoing of his voice carrying off into the distance. Frustration coursed throughout his entire being.

"Even when I say 'please', you still refuse to answer me..." He said to himself, clenching his hands into fists. His heart beats heavily from the discovery, but it still burns with determination and refusal to give up. "With or without your help, bro, I'm not gonna quit finding you!"

With his head held high and having a gut feeling that he's going to find his big brother, he continued on with his quest, heading for the other end of the tunnel... Only to find himself at a dead end and no more concrete to walk on, only a waterfall pouring water and a deep pool of water blocking his path. The turtle rubbed his hand on top of his head.

"A dead end?... Did I took a wrong turn, or is this as far as I can go?" Looking around, besides their being a couple of pipes hanging up higher on the walls and a few wires that are most likely old electric wires that went dead and no longer connected to any electricity, it was pretty clear it was the end of the line for the turtle and needs to head back to his father and two younger brothers.

With a heavy deep sigh and eyes downcast, Raphael turned around and slowly walked his way to where he came. Five steps into the tunnels, he ceased his walking when his ears captured the sound that sounded like a very deep gurgling coming from the water. Turning his head, he stared back at the water, where he then saw bubbles forming near the ground he was just standing at. He knew that they weren't the foam-like bubbles that waterfalls would make, but the kind of bubbles that would form when something... better yet,  _somebody_ , were moving in the water or releasing air from holding their breaths for too long.

Taking a few steps back to the dead end, Raph leaned in forward over the water, staring at the bubbles with major curiosity and hoping that it was a sign to tell him that it was Leonardo.

"...Leo?... Is that you?" His answer to that, is the bubbles getting bigger and a loud rumbling that almost sounded like it was telling him 'no'.  _'...That ain't Leo...'_ His stomach felt itself twisting into knots when the rumbling sound didn't ceased or the bubbles continues to increase its numbers and size.

_**"Ggggrrrrrrrrrrr..."** _

The rumbling sound grew, that the red-mask turtle swore that it caused an earthquake to come to New York. He lost his balance when he felt something bang itself against the concrete he stood, along with being spooked by the bubbles growing like water boiling over a hot stove, and fell on his shell.  _'What's the shell's going on?!'_ If he had known that thinking the question would answer his question, he would regret ever thinking it if he had known it would be answer by the sound of a large figure leaping out of the water and coming down on him.

_**"RRRRAAAAWWWWWRRRRR!"** _

Immediately, and thanks to his ninja training for enhancing his reflexes, Raphael pulled back and backflipped himself away from whatever it was that tried to jump at him... When his emerald-green eyes laid its sight on the being, his jaw dropped and immediately had a look of fear and horror when he sees a savage, blood-thirsty albino crocodile standing right in front of him and ready to take another bite at him.

From what he could see and guess, the massive beast looks like it can be thirty feet long and seems to be a few inches taller than the midrange of the five foot height, along with its weight being three-thousand or more pounds of pure muscle. The fangs are long and thick, ready to tear through flesh and solid steel. It's dagger-like claws dug into the concrete floor, making cracks and small craters to form from the beast nailing itself above the surface to not allow the current to drag him away from where he now stands. The scales, obviously, are white and appear to had been rubbed to sharpen its body. Although, for some reason, some of the scales looks as if they're falling off of its body as if it was shedding its scutes, which the crocodile could most likely be going through since crocodiles don't shed their skins like snakes do. While most of the tail hangs off of the ground and remains within the flow of the water, no doubt it was what hit against the concrete floor and could be dangerous to get near of if the turtle believes the back would be weaker than the front.

The bloodshot-red eyes of the crocodile zeroed in on Raphael, who stood paralyzed in fear from the sight of the mighty beast, sending a clear message that not only did it not appreciate the ten year-old for intruding in its territory, but now sees him as its next kill. It let loose a low growl and snapped its jaw into the air, as it slowly but calmly stalked its way towards the boy, its tail dragged out of the waters and swaying side-to-side in case it would need to be used to subdue the turtle if he tries to flee.

As it slowly approaches its prey, Raphael took a few steps back with every step it took, not really thinking on what the plan is but to keep his distance, until he tripped over a brick and once again, fell on his shell. Once he was down, the crocodile moved in and pinned the turtle down with its right-clawed hand, its long-nails inches from piercing his skin and having to use barely little strength to keep the turtle down. Raph squirmed underneath its hold, trying to break free, but proved to be a waste of effort when the beast kept him locked in place and ready to bite his head off with its massive jaw.

"Oh, god... Oh, holy mother of god..."

He knew, right there and then, that he's literally staring Death in the face and his fate is in the hands... Er,  _claws_ , of the white sewer crocodile and he there was nothing he can do to save himself from his fate. Not wanting to stare into the bloodlust-eyes of his soon-be killer, he had his emerald-green eyes turn their gaze to stare at something else, which is at the hand that pins him to the ground... And, to his shock and possible horror, he sees a blue-bandana tied around the beast's hand.

It's true that a lot of items are found in the sewers and a lot of humans will toss away any sort of items into the sewers, but Raphael knows that the beast didn't just gain that bandana from a human being wasteful. Just by feeling it rub off against his plastron and one of his arms, along with a faint scent of japanese incense that the turtle recognize the scent from the dojo, it's the same material Splinter used to make their masks with... Meaning that the blue-bandana, tied around the crocodile's hand, is Leonardo's blue-bandana.

The sick feeling in Raph's stomach grew, as did his anger when his gaze stayed on the bandana, which he also noticed a couple of darker-spots that isn't from being soaked in the water.

"...Where... Where did you get that bandana?" He growled out, glancing up at the face of the crocodile, who simply let loose a few hissing sounds when he spoke to it. He can also see the anger in the red-eyes, along with disgust, rage... But most of all, satisfaction and vengeance. Raph got his answered from the look in the creature's eyes, which made him even angrier. "What did you do to Leo?" The creature simply snapped its jaw into the air, trying to scare the turtle, but he didn't back down that easily this time. "What did you do to my brother?!" That time, something else answered his question: The growling sound of the crocodile's stomach.

Putting two and two together, the red-masked turtle felt his entire world fall apart. Thinking that his big brother must've also came to this closed off section, just to get away from his family and brothers in thought that they truly never cared or loved him, only to be found by the white beast and...  _Eaten_... It was enough to get Raphael to slowly pull out one of his Sais from his belt, which the crocodile wasn't pinning to the ground, and, with the flick of his wrist, jabbed the middle point of his weapon straight through the monster's hand. The jab was enough to spill blood, forcing the crocodile to lift its hand off of the turtle and freeing him from its grasp. Before the beast pulled away, Raphael made a quick grab for his brother's blue-bandana, clutching it in his grasp and around the handle of his Sai.

Now free, and letting his anger get the best of him, but not before he tied the bandana around his Sai and bringing out his other Sai, he clashed the two weapons together in front of his face.

 **"Teme** (You [bastard/bitch]) **...!"**  He snarled out, uncrossing his weapons and rubbing one over the other, forming sparks to jump off the metal and onto the wet-concrete. "I'll kill you,  **Yajuu**  (Monster, beast or wild animal)!" The crocodile let loose a mighty roar, daring and mocking the turtle to come at it, which it worked.

Raph charged, surprisingly keeping his feet firmly on the ground and able to avoid tripping or losing his footing, then he launched himself in the air and aimed his Sais down at the beast's head. Already having an idea on where the turtle wants his weapons to be at, the crocodile shifted itself to have its tail take over the spot where its head used to be and, when the turtle got close, whacked him to the other side of the tunnel, pushing him aside as if it was swatting a fly away.

The mere force of the creature's tail knocked the wind out of Raph and landed harshly against the wall with his shell, forcing him to release both of his weapons and to gain a major headache, as he slid down the wall and back to the ground. Taking the opportunity of having the turtle down and temporarily disoriented, the crocodile crossed the current with ease, sat the upper-half of its body above the water and aimed its snout and fangs at the turtle.

**_Move!_ **

His ninja sense gave him a quick command and after shaking the ache and dizziness out of his head, after staring up to see the crocodile about to do grab him with its snout, he forced his body to roll to the left, barely able to dodge the attack just in time and for the beast to ram its head through the wall. With the creature's head still inside the whole and finding one of his Sais next to his feet, Raphael made a swipe for his weapon and launched himself in the air, aiming his weapon for its neck. Unfortunately, his timing was a bit late than he anticipated, because the albino monster pulled its head out of the hole and when it saw the turtle flying towards it, the creature once again lifted its upper-half of his body off the ground, now having the turtle's aim for its face and in front of its snout.

Too bad for the albino crocodile, for when he was about to open its mighty jaw, Raph made a risky move on tossing his weapon aside and spreading his arms wide open, landing perfect on top of the beast's snout and wrapping both arms and legs over its jaw, preventing it from opening its mouth. Looking straight into the crocodile's blood-red eyes and seeing he had prevented his enemy from opening his jaw, Raph let loose a wide smirk.

"Ha!" He mocked, keeping a firm grip on the creature' mouth. "I got your big, fat, mouth shut! What ya gonna do about it, huh?!"

That was his big mistake to do and to ask; to answer his question, the albino crocodile let loose its own smirk, followed by a rumbling sound mixed with a low hiss... Then, it forced the upper-half of its body backwards, sending the both of them back to the waterfall and into the pool of the deep water.

Before they went under, Raph was able to gasp out a mouth of air to help him last longer in the water, though when they hit the water, he almost screamed when his shell splashed into the water and a course of pain spread throughout his back from being slammed against the wall, shell first. Instead of screaming his pain, he clenched his mouth shut and tightened his grip onto the monster's snout, refusing to let go of his enemy.

Annoyed and irritated by its prey keeping a firm grip on his mouth, the albino crocodile tried to shake him off by jerking his head from side-to-side. The ten year-old didn't let go. It then dived up for the surface and, with the upper-half of its body out of the water, tried to shake him off and even slammed its head back into the water. That time, Raph's grip slipped from the water and being slammed back into the water, sending him flying back into the water.

The gator dived back down and swam after the boy, who struggled to get back to the surface. It then opened its mouth, all his fangs aimed for the boy's head, and clamped down hard... It missed the turtle's head, but it grabbed of the tail of his bandana. Feeling it has something within the hold of his teeth, the albino crocodile performed the Death Roll, spinning its body as fast as a boat propeller would spin when at full throttle. In just five spins, the tails of the bandana shred, and Raph, feeling himself slipping and getting a bit dizzy, shifted himself to face the beast's head and clamped himself back down on the crocodile's snout.

Beyond angry that its prey's putting up a fight and that he missed biting the boy's head, it decided that it was time to put an end to this childish game. It ceased the Death Roll, launched itself and Raph out of the pool, landing harshly back into the tunnel on its belly and rammed its head against the wall. The harsh pain of having his shell and back of his head slammed against the wall, again, got Raph to let go and to cry out in pain, sliding down the wall and to lay on his side when he finally found himself on the ground. He lifted only the upper-half of his body off the ground and placed a hand on his head, trying to shake off the pain and dizziness inside his head.

With its prey trying to regain focus to what's going on and to put up another fight, the monster stomped over to the turtle and, once again, held him down to the floor. Only, this time, it chose to slam its paws on Raphael's legs, forcing a cry of pain and fear out of the turtle when one of it's claws embedded itself into the ten year-old's right-leg. Blood surfacing from underneath the claw and the palm of its hand pressed down hard to damage his left-ankle.

"AUGH!" Raphael had no doubt that he would scream his lungs out. Never in his entire life had he screamed out so loud, that the humans from above would probably be able to hear his cry of pain. He tried to wrench the crocodile's claw out of his leg, but the sharp-nail stayed firm in its place, slowly digging further for the tip to nearly scrape against the bone. And with both his Sais far from his reach, he has no use of weapon to help him fight off with his enemy.

Once again, he's in the mercy and staring up fearing into the blood-eyes of the albino crocodile. This time, he has no possible chance on getting himself free or to continue on putting up a fight... He now accepts his fate of dying, and he's not going to get the chance to say goodbye to his family or to even tell Leonardo that he was sorry.

Gritting his teeth together and allowing the tears to stream down his face, Raphael laid his head down on the concrete floor, showing no sign on fighting back and letting the albino crocodile know he's surrendering.

" **Gomen'nasai** (I'm sorry) Leo... I'm so sorry." He whispered to himself, slowly closing his eyes to envision his big brother as the last thing he wanted to see and not the killer that's going to eat him. "...I love you, bro."

* * *

**Leonardo's POV**

_"AUGH!"_

I lifted my head when I heard a scream echoing off the walls and down the tunnels of the sewers. My Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes widen in horror when I heard the cry; I knew that cry from anywhere. I knew that scream of pain. I know the voice of the one who cries out in pain and fear... I know who it was, because that scream belongs to my brother, Raphael.

I sniffed the air and let loose a low snarl when I smelled not only my brother, but I also smelled his blood... And, the scent that albino monstrosity that rules the West parts of New York's Sewer: White Death, the Sewer Monster.

 **"Leo? What's wrong?"**  I turned to  **Mamoru** *, a black-rat with white on his stomach and over his eyes, who hopped on my shell from behind when he heard me snarl.

"White Death." I growled out, forcing a hiss and the rise of his fur from the rat from simply saying the creature's name. "And he has one of my brothers." He cocked his head to the side in confusion. He knows that I have brothers, but isn't sure which of my brothers I'm referring to.

 **"Which one?"** I gave him a sad glance in my eyes.

"...The one who wished I die." His brown-eyes widen from the information, then he hopped off my shoulder, standing in front of me with fear in his eyes. He know that if I can smell the monster's scent anywhere near from our scavenging areas or turf, then it means he's coming for us and/or whatever else he can find while searching for food.

 **"We must warn the others and head back to the Colony!"** He informed me, sprinting underneath me towards the direction we came from.  **Mamoru's**  right that we must leave before White Death comes after us, but my blood ran cold on the thought on what he could do to my brother and to the rest of my pack if the monster finds them.

My heart beat heavily from the thought of my hotheaded brother, wanting to head for White Death's Den and rescue Raphael from being eaten, but also reminded by the hurtful words he told me... The very reason to why I ran away from the den in the first place, and now living with a colony of rats in the eastern parts of the city's sewer... Which, honestly, I'm more happy to be in than upset and/or angry, even though I'm very hurt and upset of the situation.

I was about to follow  **Mamoru** , but just a single step towards his direction, my body froze still and my protective instincts as the big brother demanded that I go save Raphael.

_What are you doing?! Raph needs you! Go to him!_

I shook his head.

 _'No, he doesn't._ ' I thought to himself, glaring down at my reflection of the calming current of the sewer water underneath the floor I walk on.  _'_ _He and the others are no longer my responsibility. Besides,_ _' I_  stared up to the tunnel in front of me.  _'The Colony's my new pack, my **new**  responsibility, that I must protect. Splinter will save him.'_ I took another step forward and immediately, I felt like a kick in the stomach when I sensed my Conscience not being the only one who's fighting me.

_**PUP DARES TO ABANDON KIN?! ABANDON OWN FLESH AND BLOOD, TO BE KILLED BY CLAWS OF WHITE DEATH?! COWARD! TRAITOR!** _

The headache build up inside my head and I would've fall into the ankle-length water, if I wasn't on all-four and my hands didn't catch me when I lost my balance for a moment.

_**PUP SWORE TO PROTECT KINS AND ALPHA FROM HARM, NOT RUN OFF SCARED WITH TAIL BETWEEN LEGS! PUP MADE PROMISE TO NEVER LEAVE PACK UNPROTECTED!** _

I let out a roar of a snarl, slamming my own head against the wall to try and beat the pain inside my head with pain, itself.

 _'Newsflash, in case you forgotten: I already left them!'_ I yelled in his mind, oblivious to Mamoru had ceased his running and came back to me, concerned when he heard my snarl of frustration and anger.  _'And don't think that I wanted to leave them; I would've stayed and continue watching over them, protecting them from those who would harm us! However, Raphael made it very clear_ _that they don't need me, let alone wanted me in the beginning!' I_  then slammed my hand into the water, not caring what was in the water that splashed back at me.  _'MY GOD, HOW MANY TIMES DO I NEED TO KEEP ARGUING WITH YOU BOTH THAT IT'S OVER?!"_

_Until we get through to your thickhead that your family needs you, as much as you need them!_

_'...They don't need me... They never needed me in the first place...'_

Despite knowing to stay away from me when having an argument with my instincts and/or Conscience, Mamoru urgently padded his paw up at my arm to regain my attention.

 **"Leo, c'mon! We need to go!"** The rat reminded me, pointing a paw over to the tunnel they came from. I simply panted deeply, my eyes staring up at the tunnel.

 _'...I'm done being their protector, when they won't accept me for who I am or even let me be what I want to be.'_  I growled out.  _'...I'm free, like I should've been years ago, and have a new family who welcomes me with open arms.'_ Shaking the small droplets of water off of my maskless face, I lowered my head and took a third step forward, trying to fight off the tremor coursing through my body while forcing myself to ignore the urge to go save my younger brother, who told me a moon ago that I was a burden in the family and should've never been with them.

_You take one more step for the Colony, and you'll regret it for the rest of your life!_

I froze in my step, then slowly sat down on the ground and leaned my head up against the brick-wall. I let out a deep sigh and closed my eyes.

_'I'll admit that I am a coward for turning my on saving Raphael... I'll even admit that I am a traitor for leaving his fate into the claws of White Death and will always be a traitor in the pack, But know this: The_ _result of Raph's undoing is on him, not me. I had nothing to do with it and as sure as hell wanted to play in any part on getting him killed.'_

**_If Pup hadn't left den, left_ ** _pack_ **_, Beta-Brother Raphael wouldn't be in claws of White Death!_ **

_'Even if I'm the reason he went into White Death's territory, he knew and was told to never go off into the closed off sections of the sewers. Again, it's on him and not me.'_

Silence went by, besides the nervous squeaks  **Mamoru**  would give out, until I finally gotten a reply.

_...What if Father had them, or worse, **allowed**  them, to go search for you in the closed off section of the sewers?... What if Raph went into White Death's territory and Father doesn't even know about it? Would he still be rescued, or would it be too late and White Death goes off searching for the rest of your family?_

_'...' I_  knew what the answer to that means, but I didn't know what sort of excuse to think to prove my point that I wasn't needed.

_**Pup knows Beta-Brother Raphael will be killed by White Death... And once Beta-Brother dies, rest of pack will die and blame will be on Pup.** _

My cerulean/sapphire-eyes widen from the information, despite knowing it's the truth.

 _'_ _...What?'_ A low growl came out of my throat, my hands clenching into fists and leaving scratch markings onto the concrete ground.

_You know what'll happen if Raph dies; Father will be depressed, struggle to keep going for Don and Mikey, until he either takes his own life or get caught and killed by his past enemy. When that'll happen, Don and Mikey won't be able to take care of themselves, and will eventually be with Raph and Father in the Afterlife._

_'...And it'll be my fault... I would be the cause of my pack's death, even though I'm doing what I believe would make them happen and protect them from danger...'_ Low whimpering and a few whines came out of my throat, my fangs clenching against each other and eyes held back tears.

_**Pup's heart in right place, but Pup's action and decision is wrong... Pup swore to be there for Kins and Alpha, no matter what, and Pup must fulfill promise.** _

I knew, right there and then, that my instincts and Conscience are right; I made a promise, a promise by my own  _blood_ , that I will protect my pack and will always be there for them... Even if it meant they never loved me and disowned me from the clan, I'll still be there to save their lives, gladly exchange their lives with my own to make it right. The decision has been made.

 **"Leo? Are you alright?" Mamoru**  questioned me, cocking his head to the side when he saw the anger on my face replaced with a calm expression and my eyes held with fire.  **"Are you ready to head back to the Colony?"** I stared down at the rat and shook my head.

"Sorry,  **Mamoru** , but you're gonna have to warn the others and head back to the Colony, without me."  **Mamoru's**  eyes grew from my response.

 **"What? Why?! We need to leave if White Death's actually heading our way and warn the others! Why aren't you coming ba...!"** Within a few seconds, he immediately get and understood what was going on.  **"...You're going after White Death." I**  solemnly nod my head. He gave me a glare of hate and anger, but it wasn't towards me.  **"Why should you go after White Death and get yourself killed, when it's your own brother's fault! He and the rest of your previous pack-members are the reason why you're living in the sewers! Heck, look at you!"** He sat on his hind-legs and gestured to my appearance.  **"You almost died the last time you fought White Death, because of them!... Why throw away the freedom you finally gained to go back and save him, when they never cared for you and disowned you from the pack?!"**

Despite making the decision, I also wonders why I would do it, when an answer from somewhere inside of my heart gave me an answer to tell him.

"He may have renounced his claim of me being his brothers and disowned me of being family, but he's still my brother by blood, just as the rest of my previous pack is still my family by blood and I still care for them, even if they no longer care for me." I then calmly turned around and made my way across the water, standing in front of the tunnel I heard my brother's cry of screams came out from. I then stared at  **Mamoru**. "I also made a promise,  _swore_  by my own blood, that no matter what, I'll always be there... Even if it means they disown me, or lead me to my death." I gave  **Mamoru**  a sad smile. "I'll try to avoid getting myself killed and return to the Colony as soon as I can, but should I fail... then give everyone my gratitude for accepting me into the family."

_Who said anything about you going back to the Colony after this?_

_'I only agree to saving Raphael from White Death, I didn't agree to go back to the den. Whether I stay with the Colony or go back to the pack that never loved me from the start, will be my decision to make... I'll still look out for them from afar and be there if they're in any sort of danger, but that will be all.'_

_**...Very well, Pup. At least Pup will still keep promise on protecting pack and be happier living with Colony, motivate Pup to watch over pack... Go, and rescue Beta-Brother Raphael from White Death!** _

Earning a nod from  **Mamoru** , with tears being shed for me, and watching him scurry to the Colony on his own, I let loose a low growl and, getting on all-four, sprinted down the tunnel. By using my sense of smell as my guide and following the sound of growling, I ran through three tunnels and two closed off sections to find myself at White Death's den... With the sight of the white beast pinning my brother to the ground, blood surfacing from Raph's leg because of a claw digging into his flesh, ready to have him as his dinner.

" **Gomen'nasai** (I'm sorry) Leo... I'm so sorry." My heart clenched at Raph's apology. His words still hurt me and I knew he meant it if he held it inside for so long, but even before I heard his apology, I still forgiven him. He may had told me he hated me, but my love for my brother will never fade away... Even if part of my heart and soul feels nothing for him and the rest of the pack. "...I love you, bro." Another clenching feeling in the heart, but I fought off the feeling; now wasn't the time to get all emotional, because White Death had opened his mighty jaws, attempting to grab for Raphael and ending his life to eat him.

**"It was fun while it lasted, Shrimp. Time for me to eat!"**

I let out a low growl, stopping White Death from using any of his long-fangs from grabbing for my brother.

**"What was that?"**

_**Now, Pup! Strike!** _

Pulling out a weapon I've made on my own from my belt, I sprinted down and launched myself in the air. The albino beast lifted his head to the sound of my snarl, but wasn't quick enough to dodge my attack when my weapon came down at him and slashed at his right-eye.

**"AH, FU-! MY EYE!"**

He let out a roar of pain, removing his hand that pinned Raphael to the floor. I landed behind White Death, narrowly dodging his thrashing tail, before I shifted myself to stare back at him and, seeing he lifted his right-foot, I charged underneath him and used all of my strength to flip him on his side by shoving his stomach with my shell.

**"What the hell?!"**

He fell on his back, stilling roaring and trying to nurse his bleeding right-eye, giving me enough time to get to Raphael, who still had his eyes closed and had shielded his face with both arms held out in front, and drag him a couple of feet away from my enemy. Taking a good look at him, he was soaked to the bone and his right-leg is badly hurt, a stab wound to almost being broken from how deep the claw went into his leg.

 _'Raphael's lucky that White Death prefers to play with his kill and toy with them, before he decided to break every bone in his body and then use the Death Roll.'_ I let out a low growl, watching White Death roll himself back on his feet and try to focus his attention on who got him in the eye.  _'One of these days, Raphael's stupidity is going to get himself killed.'_ "I knew you were an idiot, but I'd hope you would be smart enough to not go to the closed off sections of the sewers... Guess I was wrong."

I heard him gasp out a deep breath, no doubt stunned and shock to be seeing me standing before him.

"Le... Leo?" I simply gave him a disappointed gaze, folded my arms in front of my chest and calmly shaking my head.

"Your lack of smart hasn't changed a bit."

* * *

**Raphael's POV**

I never thought I would ever be so happy to hear and see my big brother before me, until now, after he pulled me away from the monster and stood in front of me before my eyes... And be so horrified by the appearance of his condition.

"Le... Leo?" I whispered, not sure if I'm actually seeing him right and the cause for my terrible sight is my bleeding leg. Staring up at the turtle, standing beside me, isn't the same turtle who was the eldest son of Hamato "Splinter" Yoshi, or the big brother Don, Mikey and I recognized knew is our big brother.

The turtle before me is completely covered in scars, fangs and claw-markings carved up in his plastron and shell that I knew was done by the white beast that almost ate me. They looked painful but, luckily, didn't appear deep to have his shell and/or plastron cracked or chipped off and will fade away into non-existing scars.

The scratch and bite-marks also ran down his arms, legs, neck and back of his head, including a crescent-like moon scar over his right-eye. The scratches on his left-leg and the back of his head, along with the bite-marks on his right-arm, had an odd dark-coloring, which I hope were simply bruises and not a sign of infection... Which I, unfortunately, believe it is, which would explain why he looks ill and why he can't seem to stand up straight without swaying or having to use the wall to support him up. Also, because the wounds with the odd-coloring had a bad smell that wasn't good to know.

And... Dear god! I thought he was skinny back at home, but now... Damn it! He's nothing but skin and bone underneath that shell of his! If he wasn't able to get that sewer crocodile on its back, I'd think he lost all of his muscle and became a walking skeleton that still has its skin. And without his blue-bandana covering his eyes, I could see he hasn't been sleeping well from the black-marking underneath his dull, hardened eyes.

Nevertheless, despite his startling appearance, I'm happy to have finally found my big brother, after a whole month of endless searching for the brother I feared to have lead him to his own death. I've missed him so much, that all I wanted to do was give him hug and never let him go. I missed him so much, that I even miss the way he teases or remarks about my lack of smarts.

"Your lack of smart hasn't changed a bit." On second thought, I didn't actually miss him always teasing me, let alone remind me, on how I'm a hothead and have the mind of a raging bull with no mind to think. Well, I have something to say to him.

"Well, I wouldn't had came here, if a certain  _someone_  didn't ran away from home in the first place!" I stated, giving him my own glare and tried to get back to my feet, only for the pain to shot out from my right-leg and grab at my injured leg. I didn't notice Leo bringing my Sais back to me, until I saw him holding out his blue-bandana I tied around one of the Sais and tied it on the wound.

 **"Baka**  (Idiot) **,"**  he muttered to me. I winced when he tightened the bandana around my wound, but I didn't stop him from wrapping it up, knowing that putting pressure on a bleeding wound will clot the blood and stop any more blood loss. "You're lucky that I heard your cry, or you would've been White Death's meal for the day." I cocked my head to the side to what he just said. White Death? Who the shell's White Death?

I was too caught up on keeping my attention on my brother, that I've forgotten about that white beast, until I heard a loud thump in the water and a loud hiss coming from behind Leo. He had a smirk on his face and, after he finished bandaging my injured leg, he turned his back to me and now between me and the monster in front of him.

"It's been a while, hasn't it, White Death?"

* * *

**Leonardo's POV  
**

After I finished tying my blue-bandana around Raph's injured leg, I turned my attention back to White Death, who finally stopped his crying of his eye and gave me the deadliest look I've ever seen in his blood-lust eye.

"It's been a while, hasn't it, White Death?" I properly greeted, smirking from the blood oozing out of his closed right-eye and satisfied I left a painful mark on him, just has he done to me the last time we fought.

 **"You...! What the hell are you doing here, in my territory?! My den, no less?!"** Yep, he's mad as hell. Good.

_**Keep taunting White Death, Pup. Have White Death's focus on you and away from Beta-Brother Raphael.** _

"What's the matter, White Death? I thought you would be pleased to be seeing me, again, especially after that friendly fight we had together."

That fight I was talking about, it wasn't friendly in the least; it was a blood slaughter fight and it was the only fight I had with the monster when we met. I accidentally wondered into one of his territories and stole a couple of fishes from the water he was planning on getting, himself. I offered to let him have the fishes, but had decided to teach me a valuable lesson on what happens if you take food from the sewer monster that's supposed to be his kill. I fought as hard as I could, using only my ninja skills and fangs since I left my Katanas back with Splinter and the others, but I stood no chance against White Death.

I ended up with scratch and bite marks on my shell and plastron, which he nearly cracked and ripped off if I hadn't gotten out of his grip and/or attacking him in the mouth, deep cuts in my left-leg, back of my head and right-arm that got badly infected, and a permanent crescent-moon scar over my right-eye that I nearly lost. I thought he was going to finish me off or worse, eat me, but for some reason, he chose to take my catch and left me to die, taking my blue-bandana with him. And I would've, too, if the rats hadn't came to aid me in my time of need.

Ever since that dreadful fight, I trained myself to one day take another crack at the beast... And now is that time. I gave him a hateful-glare.

"You should've killed me when you had that chance, White Death. And now, you're gonna wish that you had, cause now I'm gonna show you what happens when you try to eat one of my brothers." I heard Raphael once let out a gasp, which I assume he's stun that I would still refer to him as my brother, but I ignored him for the time being. Right now, I need to keep my focus on the monster before me. I then flashed the monster a daring smile. "And I think I'll teach you that lesson, by using a certain souvenir you left me with a month ago."

I held up my weapon, which is a fang from White Death, himself... Actually, believe it or not, this fang I have before in my hand, is the oldest tooth the beast had all his life. Not once in his entire life from the day he hatched, had this fang of his came out and regrew itself and had been with him in all his life... Until I kicked it out of his mouth and had him leave with a missing fang in the process from the fight we had a month ago. Staring at the fang in my hand, he let a tongue slide out of his snout and rub against a fang that I see has fully grown to replace the missing fang.

"It's as the old say goes: An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." He hissed at my remark, thumping his tail roughly into the water. "Looks like you already moved on and had already regrown a new tooth to replace this old one, which is great. You look a lot better without that missing fang of yours."

 **"You're going to pay for what you did to my fang back then, mutt. And this time, I won't make the same mistake on letting you live!"** He snarled, banging his tail against the wall and scraping his claws against the floor.

"Best luck to that, Dead-Eye McGee." I taunted, before I turned my attention back to my brother, who now has both his weapons in his grasp and is trying to get to his feet. He'll end up being a major distraction, a hindrance, if he stays and tries to help me fight. "Raphael, leave this place." I ordered him, staring back at my opponent.

"What?! No way, Leo! I'm not gonna leave you here and get eaten by that monster!" I knew he was going to refuse, but even he knows that he'll only get in the way. "Besides, there's no way I'm going back to the Lair without you!"

_See? He not only apologized to you, but has also admitted that he wants to take you back home. That proves that he does cares and love you._

_'Now, isn't the time to talk me into going back to the Lair. Right now, I have a sewer monster to take care of.'_

_**Pup's right; time to fight!** _

"...Whatever, just stay back here and out of the way; you're in no condition to fight." I didn't bother to wait for his reply, as I took a few steps forward to stand in front of the monster's snout. He smirked at my boldness at standing face-to-face with him.

 **"Hope you said your goodbye to your brother; it'll be the last time you'll get to see him."** He told me, then lifted the upper-half of his body in the air and let loose a mighty roar.  **"Get ready to die, mix-blood!"** I simply twirled my weapon in my right-hand and crouch low to the ground, letting out a snarl of my own.

"Let's end this, Allidile!"

* * *

**Normal POV**

Hearing what Leonardo just said to him, White Death's left-eye widen that the ten year-old knew what he really was, but pushed that thought aside and forced his upper-half to land back down to the ground. At that moment, Leo launched himself in the air, over the monster's head and onto his back. Then, grasping the fang with both hand and leaning over, jabbed the fang into the monster's side and pulled back, blood surfacing underneath the fang.

Feeling a tearing at his underbelly at his side, White Death let out a hiss of pain and tried to turn at his side to snap his mouth at the boy to get him off his back. Leo leaned back, pulling the fang out of the monster's side, and flip himself to the left-side off the allidile.

**_Duck!_ **

The sound of rushing wind came from behind, the approaching sound of White Death's tail coming down to whack the boy. Leo ducked as his instinct told him to do, but didn't see on time that the tail was a distraction.

_Look out!_

Before he saw it coming, the left-foot of White Death slammed down on his chest, pinning him to the ground like Raphael was pinned.

"Leo!" His brother called out, trying to get back to his feet but ends up crumbling back to the ground and forced to watch White Death pressing down harder to crush his big brother into the pavement.

Feeling useless and at fault for Leo's would-be death, Raph stared down at his hands... Where his emerald-green eyes sees one of his Sais glistering in the faint light, as if telling him 'you know what to do'. Clenching his hand around the handle of the Sai in his right and, staring up to glare angrily at the turned head of the monster, the ten year-old leaned himself against the wall and, with all his might, tossed his weapon... It hit its target: The ridge of the right-side of his neck.

White Death let out a roar when he felt something sharp pierced into his neck and, when he turned to see it was Raphael that tossed his weapon at him and seeing the Sai sticking out of its neck, Leo felt the pressure leaving off of his chest. Seeing an opening to strike and to remind the allidile who he's fighting with, the maskless turtle jabbed the fang beneath the ball of the albino's foot. Making sure it would put the monster at a disadvantage, he shoved the fang deeper into the foot until he hit bone and jerked it to the side to have the tip slam into the bone.

He then yanked his weapon out of the foot, forcing out another roar from White Death, and leap into the air, aiming the blood-covered fang for the head-area. Despite having to writhe in pain from both his neck and foot, White Death was ready for the boy's attack from the air and, turning over, used his tail to whack him off to the other side of the tunnel. However, thinking he would slam into the wall like Raph did, he crossed the current way and launched himself out of the water, its mouth gaped open to grab the turtle the moment he hits the wall.

Before he hit the wall, Leo placed his weapon to his face to have his teeth hold on to his weapon and, shifting his body to prevent his back from being slammed, he landed on the brick-wall on his hand and feet to break his fall and launch himself forward. Shocked to have seen his enemy saved himself in the nick of time and not having enough time to snap his jaw at the boy when he landed on his snout to leap away and snapping nothing but the air, White Death rammed his head against the wall.

Landing off to the right-side of the allidile on all-four, Leonardo turned to his stunned eye brother.

"Raphael, his eye!" He cried out, having his weapon back in his hand and charging at the stunned monster. "Do it, now!"

Shaking his head to rid away his stunned look and, focusing his second Sai at the monster's undamaged eye, Raph took a deep breath and flung his weapon across the tunnel. White Death heard the sound of rushing wind coming for him, but only had enough time to turn his head and see what was coming at him, before the weapon pierced into his eye and saw nothing but darkness and pain shooting throughout his body.

At the very moment the sai hit its mark Leo slid on his shell and, quickly pulling out the first sai out of the ridge of the neck, jabbed the fang underneath the throat and allowed gravity and wind to help him drag his weapon deep into White Death's throat. Once the fang was out of the flesh, Leo shifted on his right-side to pull the second sai out of White Death's left-eye, who was all but thrashing and hitting the wall and ground.

 **"Quit helping each other, damn hatchlings!"** He snarled, blindly attacking nothing but the air, wall, ground and water around him.  **"Why would you both be working together, when he and the rest of your previous pack cast you out of their clan?! Why are you even here in the first place, when it was _he_  who I have the right to punish for trespassing onto my territory?!"**

Leonardo simply let out a calming sigh, his eyes focusing on the movement of his enemy until he saw the perfect opportunity to make his finishing blow.

"I already told you before, White Death, at our last fight we had a moon ago: We're a pack..." Leo twirled the fang in his hand, flung himself in the air for a third time, landing perfectly on the beast's neck. "And a pack fights as a team, protects one another and  _never_  abandon their own... Even if that pack member is no longer welcomed in the pack."

Without any hesitation, he plunged the fang into the side of the neck at the base of the skull at the right. When White Death reared back and let out his snarl of agonizing pain, Leo pulled the fang out from its spot and pulled at the monster's bleeding neck while leaning back, forcing the gator to lean farther back and to plummet into the strong current of the waters. Before the monster fell into the water, the ten year-old had allowed himself to slide off the mighty beast and use White Death's snout as a springboard to help him leap back to where Raphael remained still in his spot.

Both ten year olds saw White Death's body disappear into the fast current, vanishing as if he was just a figment of their imagination. If not for the cracks against the wall and floor, the hole in the brick-wall, the trail of blood left by the monster and a dark, murky-red color in the water that the current carried down the tunnel, they would've believed that it was just their imagination.

There was no sign of White Death coming back up and, with the air smelling of copper and water, it was all Leonardo needed to tell him that this closed off section of the sewer is no longer a danger or threat to him or to his pack: White Death has been slain.

 _'And that's the end of the Sewer Monster, White Death.'_ He thought to himself, wiping the fang against his belt to get rid of the blood that he used to spill his opponent's blood with and placing it back underneath the belt against his shell. He let out a deep sigh, allowing all his fear and worry of White Death to flow away like the current in front of him and his brother.

_...You did it... You actually did it!... You've defeated White Death! _

**_Pup has done well. Pup finally put end to the reign of White Death, and now sewers of city safe for pack and colony to roam. No more fear or worry of albino devil._ **

_'Yeah... Finally...'_ Leo thought to himself, before he, out of respect of Bushido and an honorable samurai/ninja, placed his right-fist in the open palm of his left-hand and gave a low bow to where he saw White Death vanished within the waters.  _'Despite your_ _cruelty, traitorous plot to fight and kill those who're weaker than yourself, even for your bloodlust for power and dominates, you've fought well... May you rest in peace and be but a fainting memory of the past, White Death... Let's head back to the colony and have them spread the word to the others.'_

"...Leo?" A voice from behind regained his attention, reminding the maskless turtle the reason he fought the allidile and that he isn't alone.

_**First thing's first, Pup. Get Beta-Brother Raphael out of White Death's former den and back to pack.** _

_'...Right.'_ He calmly made his way to his brother, kneeling in front of his stunned but concerned brother. He stared at his blood-covered blue-bandana, seeing that the flow of blood exiting the wound has lessen and, taking a quick sniff at the wound, doesn't smell like it's getting infected. He gently placed his hand over the bandana, adding a bit of pressure to feel the wound. It forced out a wince of pain out of Raph, but the soothing touch of his brother didn't hurt as much as the allidile's claws did.  _'It doesn't look completely broken, but no doubt it could be a minor fracture to the tibia. He won't be able to walk for the next moon, but should make a full recovery if he doesn't push himself.'_

_ Luckily, White Death's den isn't too far from the Lair... He'll have to lean on you to move and, judging from the size of his muscle had increased a bit the last time we saw them, he'll be too heavy to carry. _

"Can you stand?" Leo asked his brother, hoping that his judgement on the leg isn't wrong and that he doesn't have to carry him on his shell if the leg is broken. Understanding what his big brother's asking and rather than answer, Raphael placed his right hand on the wall and forced his trembling body to stand.

"I, agh-!" He stumbled a bit, but used the wall on his right to prevent himself from falling back to the ground. "Got it.. Ugh." Leo rolled his eyes.

**_Stubborn Kin. Even when Beta-Brother Raphael just stared death in face and could've had both legs shattered instead of fractured leg, he still refuses to ask for help._ **

_'Did you really expect Raph to change that much while I was with the colony, besides building up his muscles like he always do?'_ He walked over to his brother and, before Raph knew what his brother was going to do and try to protest, draped his right-arm over his shoulders to have the red-masked turtle to lean on him. "I asked if you can stand, not to damage your leg any further by attempting to walk." Raph blushed in embarrassment on having to lean on his big brother, but his eyes widen from the information he was just told.

"You mean my leg's...?" Leo shook his head.

"It's not broken, but it almost did and is simply fractured." He explained to his brother, slowly leading them down the tunnels away from White Death's den and having Raph to hop with each step he made. "You're not going to be able to walk, without either the aid of a wheelchair or crutches, or do any training for the next month." Raph narrowed his eyes and growled in anger at the news of not being able to train for over a month. Leo let out a low chuckle. "Hey, be glad you're taking a lighter punishment than you would've had to go through and that White Death likes to play with his food before he eats them, or else the situation could've been worse and you wouldn't be walking for six months."

"...How is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Simple. You would've had both your legs shattered and would be tortured by Michelangelo from him doodling all over your casts, or annoying TV shows he watches to drive you crazy and won't stop blabbering to you when you won't be able to get up and pummel him to the ground." A small passed by the two ten year olds, then Raph had a smile on his face and let out a chuckle of his own.

"...Yeah, you're right, that does make me feel a lot better. But that doesn't mean I won't be having nightmares about that giant crocodile nearly eating me, twice."

 _'No doubt he'll be having nightmares of White Death for weeks.'_ "Splinter will make you some chamomile tea to help you sleep."

"Well, judging on how tired and exhausted we are from having to take down a massive ton of pure muscles with fangs that could've ripped us to shreds, we both can use some of that chamomile tea to help us get some well earned rest from fighting a sewer monster. Mikey and Don are not going to believe us when we get back to the Lair and tell them what happened, huh?"

Leo stayed silent at Raph's remarks, keeping his eyes and focus on walking them down the tunnel, his only distraction to avoid making eye contact with the red-mask turtle and to not answer his question.

_'You're wrong, Raphael. I'm not going to return to the den with you... Once we're outside of the closed off section, I'm gonna knock you out the very moment your eyes are focused for the direction towards the den and leave you near the lair, where Splinter and the others will find you, safe from harms way and tend to your injured leg.'_

Besides seeing a few rats that Leo knew aren't from the colony he's living in and the water never ceasing its speed, along with having his larger brother leaning a bit more on him as if gravity's trying to drag him down, the quietness was peaceful for the maskless turtle.

"You know? That was kinda fearless of you." Leo turned to stare at his brother, confusion written on his face, who gazed back at him with a smirk of a smile on his own face. "What you did back there, bro, fighting that giant sewer gator, that was fearless... Although, I don't get why you were talking to it, as if you two were having a conversation on your own." He turned his head away from his brother's words, staring down at the ground.

"I wasn't being fearless back there, Raphael." He told his brother. "I was simply taking care of a feud that's been going on between me and White Death for a whole month. As for me talking to White Death while fighting with him... Don't think for a second that he's a mindless animal, Raphael; he's far more intelligent than the average reptile you'll ever know."

Raph shook his head, the smirk still placed on his face.

"Feud or not, you saved me back there. I would've been dog meat to that gator, if you hadn't came before he could've shattered my legs."

Guilt ran through the older turtle's body, not in the least feeling happy or proud to have rescued his brother from harm.

 _'...I need to tell him. He must know the truth and must be given a reminder to why he despised me in the first place.'_ Leo stopped in his tracks. "...I wasn't planning on saving you." A pause went by the two brothers.

"...What?" The red-masked turtle asked in shock.

 _'There it is. First the confusion, then the anger, until his rage finally blows over. Best get it over with and explain myself to him, before he demands that I leave and never show my face in the sewers, again.'_ "I wasn't going to save you. In fact, I was going to leave you and let Splinter find you to do the rescuing, himself." He stared down at the raging water, his reflection appearing all fuzzy and stretched. "When you told me that you wish I wasn't your brother, you were also implying that you didn't want anything to do with me and don't want me to be there for you. I knew that coming for you would make you angry and more of a reason to hate me, that I decided to respect your wishes and leave you... But I couldn't, because no matter what, whether you despise and/or hate me enough to cast me out of the Clan, you're still my brother.  _All_  of you are still my family, that I'd still be there whenever you're in danger or in need of help."

_...That was very touching. And you really mean it, too._

_'From the depths of my heart... The part that truly do cares and loves them, the part that I'd actually bonded with them, I meant it... But, now that he knows that I never really intended to come and save him, he'll push me aside and would want me to leave, never to show myself anywhere near him or the rest of the pack, again... And I won't blame for it.'_

He waited for the yelling, the screaming, the anger,  _anything_  to come out of his brother for learning the truth. However, neither of those options came out. Instead,

"...Well, then boy am I glad that you did came for me." Cerulean/sapphire-eyes widen from the emerald-green-eyed turtle, who simply had a smug smile on his face and gave a couple of reassuring pats on Leo's shell. "I really mean it, bro, and a good thing that you did came, whether I'd get angry or not." A sort of burning feeling burnt up inside his chest and a cold feeling filled up his empty stomach.

_'He... He can't be serious!'_

_Sounds like he's very serious and you know that. He's silently apologizing to you and from the way he's admitting to you that he meant what he just said to you, is his way on saying how much he really missed yo-_

_'No, not that! He can't be alright with what just happened! He knew that he'd be dead if I hadn't shown up, hadn't chose to listen and get to him! How dare he treat this situation like it was some joke?!'_ "How can you say that?" He growled out, glaring at his brother and slightly tightening his grip on the arm over his shoulders. "I almost left you to die by the claws of White Death! I would've ignore your scream of pain, pretend like it never happened, and let you get eaten...! How can you say, be  _alright_ , with that when I could've been the cause of your death?!"

The smug on Raph's face instantly vanished and replaced with a firm, calm gaze. He let out a deep sigh.

"Because it wasn't your fault that this all happened to begin with," he answered. "It was my fault that I came here, not yours. The very moment Sensei, the guys and I split up, I came to this closed off section of the sewers, which I shouldn't had done. Master Splinter decided that after going through the routes we would take and the safe parts of the sewers and if we couldn't find you, then he would gave us the okay to go search for you at the forbidden parts of the sewers."

**_Foolish Beta-Brother. Kin basically placed self in claws of White Death by ignoring Alpha's words and disobeyed order Beta-Brother was given... Pup's not at fault for Beta-Brother Raphael near-death moment with White Death._ **

_Yeah, but the only reason he went into White Death's territory is because he was simply looking for his brother. So, technically, half of it is his fault that Raph almost died._

"Also..." A pause came between the two brothers, until found his voice to talk again. "It's also my fault that you ran away in the first place, because from what I said to you." Emerald-green eyes stared down at their unmoving feet, shame and self-loathing held within his gaze. "I never meant what I said to you, Leo. I never hated you and neither did the others, not once did we ever think on hoping or even wished that you weren't our brother to begin with." He stared back to his brother, tears swelled up in his eyes through his mask. "I know that apologizing isn't enough and I won't blame you if it's already too late to even say it, Leo, but... Ugh, why is it so hard to say it?!"

While the red-masked turtle tries to get the words to come out, Leonardo let his attention focus on the water and to the sounds around them.

_**Beta-Brother Raphael speaks no lie... Though kin's stubbornness prevents kin from saying it and despite barking out anger on how Beta-Brother Raphael felt towards Pup a moon ago, Beta-Brother wish for Pup's forgiveness and rekindle bond kin has with Pup.** _

He didn't say or could even think of any word to say to that.

_You'll forgive him, right?_

Leo remained silent.

_...You are going to forgive Raph, aren't you?_

Nothing...

Raph took a deep breath, feeling a bit ready to finally say what he should've told the maskless turtle a month ago. He was about to speak out the first word that popped in his mind...

"You're right about one thing, Raph." He whispered, gaining his brother's attention and stopping him from trying to say those three words. "I'm different from the rest of you... I'm not like you three and Master Splinter, and will never be like you guys." Emerald-green eyes widen, stunned by what his brother just said.

"Leo-" The maskless turtle held out a hand.

"I already forgave you for what you said to me, Raph." Calling him by his nickname and not by his full name, which only Splinter would always call the turtle by, made Raphael happy and relieved that his big brother isn't angry at him. "However," the smile on Raph's face immediately went away. "know that it's hard for me to try and forget the choice of your action that occurred a month ago... I'm sorry."

Raph let out a sigh, understanding that just because Leo forgave him and knows that he's sorry for what he said, the red-masked turtle has to learn that it was going to take some time for his brother to get over what he said to him and for his heart to heal.

"...I understand, bro." He reassured, patting Leo's shell and giving him a comforting smile. "Hey, we'll work this problem out when we get back, okay?" He didn't wait for his brother to reply or to even give him a chance to tell him what's on his mind, for he was already taking a step out forward to continue on down the tunnels. "Right now, let's get out of here; it's making my skin crawl from the sight of this place, reminding me of that crocodile that nearly bit my head off."

Letting out a quiet sigh, knowing it would be best to keep his thoughts in his head for the time being, Leonardo and Raph continued on their journey, one helping the other to walk and guide each other away from the dead end that would've been their resting place. Eventually, the two brothers found the two trails, where the trail on the right leads them back to the sewers and a way back home, and the left trail leads to a waterfall and the pipe that pours the remaining water back to the sea. The problem, they're on the left-side of the tunnel and they need to be on the right to take the trail on the right back to the sewers.

With Raphael's fracture leg becoming a hindrance to the two brothers, which prevents Raph from leaping to the other side, with or without Leonardo's aid, if they want to risk him getting his leg broken, there was only one option Leo knew they'll have to do.

"Grab on to my shell." Raph only gave him an odd look.

"What?" Leo didn't bother to explain himself. He gripped Raph's right-arm that still held on to his shell with his left and, without any hesitation, dived the both of them into the fast water. "What the he-!"

They went under for a few seconds, both fighting off the current as hard as they could, until Leo made a grab for a hole in the concrete with his right and pulled them up above the surface. He reached his hand out and got the upper-half of their bodies out of the water. Raph hacked out water that he had swallowed by accident, pulling himself off of his brother's shell and back on to the ground.

"Next time, bro, give me a better warning before you pull a stunt like that, again!" He gasped out, glaring at his brother, who simply held on to the ledge when he discovered that the current of the surface keeps on trying to drag him down and pul him towards the left-trail of the two paths.

"It was either we swim across, or leap across and run the risk of breaking your leg in the process. Which one would you'd prefer?" He said to his brother. "You know what? Forget I asked and pull me up. The water's trying to pull me down."

"...Right, hang on." He muttered, searching around their area for something that he could use to help pull his brother out without having to lean in close enough to get sucked back into the current.

Lucky for him, a four foot small pipe happened to rest beside him, which he wouldn't had noticed if the sound of rats heading for White Death's den didn't catch his attention. On his left-knee and letting his injured leg to stretch out without any discomfort to the fractured limb, he backed away from the edge until his shell was resting against the wall and, grasping one end of the four foot pipe in both his hands, he held the other end out for his brother.

"Grab on, bro."

Leo lifted his left-hand out for the pipe, a few inches away from having his fingers brush against the end of the pipe. As he reached out a bit further for the pipe, his newly obtained sixth sense triggered warning bells inside his head and dread in his stomach.

_We're not alone. Something's coming our way!_

_**Not Alpha, nor either of Omega-Brothers. Pack's scent nowhere close to White Death's Territory... Can't locate danger, but sense threat coming!** _

"Leo, what's the hold up? Is it too far to reach?" Raph leaned forward, doing a little limp crawl until the end of the pipe hangs over the maskless turtle's head and he was in the middle of the concrete trail. "Can you reach it, now?"

Leo paid no attention to responding to his brother, focusing on what was it that's coming their way, but can only see the darkness surrounding him and his brothers and the roaring cry of the current prevents him from hearing all around their area.

 _'If I can't see or hear what's coming our way, then how can I sense the threat coming our wa-... Ah, damn it! I'm in idiot!'_ "Raph, stay away! Get back, now!" He cried, pushing the pipe away from his head and struggling to keep the upper-half of his body over the ledge.

"Leo, what's wrong?"

Raph couldn't hear the warning cry very well from the roar of the current and was too busy on trying to get his brother out, that he didn't noticed the trail of red mixing in with the raging water or the fast forming of angry bubbles popping up onto the surface, until his attention was drawn by the having splash of water and a large figure coming down for him and his big brother from above.

...It was White Death, bleeding heavily and using his blood-red right-eye to see, but still very alive and pissed as hell, itself... He came back for them, for  _revenge_.

 **"If I'm going to die, I'm taking you with me!"** He roared, his claws stretched forward and mouth opened wide to have his fangs ready to grab his victim.

Everything went by so fast, and yet it went slow at the same time, to Raphael, his body paralyzed by fear and his mind going blank that made his hearing muffle out his brother's voice in the background.

_"Raph, move! Get out of the way! Hurry!"_

He remained still in his spot... White Death's right-hand inched its way towards the red-masked turtle's face, the tip of one of his claws almost coming down to lodged itself in the pupil of the boy's right-eye...

It never made it to its target and barely brushed up against his cheek, allowing the ten year-old to avoid the attack, unscathed.

When the clawed-hand moved away from his eye, Raph turned his head to the right, wondering on why the monster missed him... Only to see that his brother, who somehow pulled himself up from the water enough to spring himself towards White Death's throat, having to risk his shell getting scratched by the albino monster's left-hand, and shoving the both of them towards the direction back into the water... Both got pulled in with the current... They took the left trail... They were heading for the waterfall.

Raph screamed for his brother's name.

"LEO!"

In his struggle to get up, he grabbed for the four foot pipe that was discarded away by Leo, using it as a substitute for a crutch and, using it to pole vault himself over to the other side and not damage his right-leg when he landed, ran as fast as he could down the trail to follow the brawl that continued on underwater of the current. "Hang on, bro, I'm coming!"

* * *

**Leonardo's POV**

I heard Raph call out my name, which means he finally come out of being paralyzed in fear, but I knew better than to call back to him. Doing so will make me lose whatever oxygen I was able to hold in when we went under, while struggling to swim for the surface, allow me to become an easy target for my enemy, even if we need to get out of the water before we get dragged towards our deaths by the waterfall.

_**Keep White Death in water! Only place to hold off White Death, keep Beta-Brother Raphael safe!** _

_'That's easier said than done.'_ I thought to myself.  _'I can't stay under for no more than fifteen minutes and that's what White Death's going to do; cut off my oxygen and grab me when I'm wide open and heading for the surface!'_

_White Death can't breath underwater either and can only hold his breath for three hours, and he's heavily damaged from what you and Raph did, so he shouldn't be able to last longer in the condition he's in. So, how about you use the same idea he'll get and cut off his time in the water to attack?_

...It was not going to be easy, but it's worth a shot to do and is no doubt my only option left to do until we reach the waterfall.

White Death and I continued our fight in the water. When we both dived back into the water, we parted from each other by the pull of the current. I used the current to help me swim myself towards my enemy, who turned his head and saw me coming. He snapped his jaw at me, swiping his claws of his left-hand in case I ducked his attack.

_**Twist and bend, as Borivoj* taught Pup!** _

I twist my body to the right and forced myself to bend backwards, barely missing both his fangs and claws, before I grabbed for my fang-weapon and thrust it as hard as I could into his back. It wasn't deep to hit the bone, but it was deep enough to pierce through the flesh and dig into the muscle.

 **"Get the hell off my back!"** He yelled in the water, trying to shake me off of his back.

_Leave it in his back, he'll be too focused on trying to get it out his back that he'll leave himself exposed!_

_**Perfect moment to attack White Death where enemy's more** _ **_vulnerable at!_ **

While I temporarily left my weapon in his back, I climbed up his back until I was sitting on his neck and, taking a risk at losing all my time underwater, bite down,  _hard_ , at the underbelly of his neck. My fangs dug in to the slash mark I gave him in our fight at his den, forcing more blood to spill and for him to get weaker from blood loss. Roaring in pain, he swam the both of us back up towards the surface.

_**Hang on, Pup! Don't let go!** _

He shook his head from side-to-side, before he lift himself up and curled back down into the water. He then did the Death Roll, but even that wouldn't get me to let go of my deadly bite. He then used the current, like I did, and rammed the both of us against the wall. This time, the force blow to my back and the sharp-parts of the wall scraping in the back of my head got me to let go and yelp underwater.

**"Now, you're mine!"**

White Death turned around and try to grab me with his mouth, only for me to let the current pull me down to dodge his attack and make a grab for his tail.

_No, don't grab his tail!_

Big mistake. He bashed his tail into the wall, having me to hit the walls face/plastron-first and tried to scrape me off his tail. I was only able to shield my face by pulling myself over the tip of his tail, but the sharp-parts of the wall dug in hard into my plastron.

**"You can't hold on forever, Boy!"**

He was right about that, but what he didn't realize is how close we were getting for the waterfall. I may not be able to talk underwater like White Death can, but I can still let out rumbling growls to communicate with the albino allidile. When he pulled his tail away from the wall, I let out my growls.

**"No, but we won't be swimming much longer until we get dragged to our deaths."**

I pointed a finger at what was ahead of us, which was to the end of the tunnel's trail and where the water falls to a drop at, to what some of the rats claim to be and hearing rumors going on from the few humans who still come into the sewers to inspect the pipes, about eighty feet to reach for the bottom, before they go to the one trail for the pipe that gushes water out into the ocean.

We both knew that if we keep on fighting and don't try to make an attempt to save ourselves, then neither one of us would get out of here alive. Rather than panic, he simply gave it a few second gaze and turned back to me, a calm but serious expression written on his face. He then let out his own growl, a small glimmer of rage held in his bloodlust, but tired eyes.

**"That may be true, but at least I'll get my revenge on you!"**

...Strange. Here we are, fighting against each other and heading for our death. And yet, he didn't really seem to care that if he was heading for a watery grave. It was like he knew that he was going to die and was okay with it... It made me wonder if, secretly, he was hoping to not make it out and had wanted death but was waiting for the right moment for that day to come.

I push back those thoughts when he lifted his tail up above his head, with me slightly dangling from the tip. He sprang his mouth forward, fangs exposed and ready to grab me...

_Let go!_

The instant my Conscience gave me a command, I let go of his tail and rolled over his snout, the very moment his mouth almost snap down... He bit his own tail and cried out in pain. I rolled myself onto his back and grabbed for my discarded weapon, yanking it out of his back. He swam away from me and I took that opportunity for the surface, knowing he's going to take a turn back around and come after me.

_**Brace for attack, Pup!** _

Instead of trying to grab me with his mouth, he rammed his snout against my plastron and brought us both up towards the surface. We leap over the water, almost like dolphins would do out in the ocean, our eyes and focus on only each other.

He opened his jaw.

_Pull back!_

Before I could pull away, he slammed his fangs on my right-arm. I let out a yelp of pain, feeling one half my humerus, and half of both my ulna and radius break like they were nothing but toothpicks to the allidile.

_**How dare White Death bite Pup's arm?! Payback, Pup! Bite back and pour both pain and anger into attack!** _

Enrage and in pain, taking a risk at further injuring my arm, I leaned up and clamped my own fangs at his already damaged left-eye.

_"Leo!"_

I heard Raph called out, which I was surprised to hear when I left him back to the midway point of the tunnel, but I figured he must've used that pipe to help get him across, without further damaging his right-leg, and is using it as a crutch to try and catch up to us. I couldn't take my attention off of White Death for even a second, despite wanting to call out to my brother, and simply bite down at the monster's damaged eye.

_Try and take a breath! We're going back under!_

We both sank back into the waters and White Death tried to get me to let go of his eye by shaking his entire body like a wild bull or bronco trying to get the rider off its back, while trying to keep his mouth completely shut and not wanting to to let my broken-arm go.

 **"You fool! Why don't you give up already?! Why do you keep fighting me, when you know we're about to fall for our deaths?!"** He snarled out, performing the Death Roll but is unable to rip my arm off while I keep on hanging on to his snout.

 **"Because I know that you'll go after my brother, once you're done with me!"** I growled out, casting a dark glare at his right-eye and still sinking my fangs into his closed left-eye.  **"And I may be going to my death for what he did, but at least I won't be dying alone!"**

Even under water, I can hear the roar of the fall. I felt White Death trying to fight off the current and even watch him swim to the bottom to try and anchor the both of us to the ground with his claws, but even he wouldn't be able to escape his fate on falling eighty feet down to the bottom and his claws would slowly delay our deaths... I couldn't take the chance if he actually do get us out of the waters and, without him realizing that my arm trapped in his mouth was holding his fang this whole time, I twisted my hand inside of his mouth and plunged my weapon down onto his tongue.

He finally let go of my arm when he roared in pain and I was free to let go of his snout, but I kept my fang sinking into his damaged eye.

 **"Looks like we'll finally get what we wanted, White Death."** I let out a deep rumbling within my throat, as his claws could no longer keep us still to the ground and the current carried the both of us towards the ledge.  **"We'll finally be rid ourselves of our rivals."**

He gave me a death-glare, but didn't say or do anything else, except let the current carry us off towards our fate and doesn't even try to shake me off his face.

_...This is it? You're just going to give up and let yourself die?!... How selfish can you be?!_

_'Only a selfish person would take their own life, when killing themselves for the wrong reason. I, on the other hand, had made myself a sacrifice when I saved Raph's life. And now, I'm going to bring White Death to the Afterlife with me, in order to spare and protect my Pack and rat Colony from the albino allidile... It's the only way to keep the sewers safe and for everyone to survive down here.'_

I let out a tiring sigh, as gravity slowly pulled us down. We both went off the ledge and fell with the pouring waters. I allowed myself to shed a few tears when I heard my name being screamed out by my brother.

_"LEO! NO!"_

_'I'm sorry, Raph... I really am.'_  I thought to myself, as I finally let go of White Death's face and released his injured eye from my fangs.

_**White Death will take** _ **_opportunity to grab Pup with fangs! Ram White Death against neck to knock wind out of lungs, Pup!_ **

Twisting my body to the side, with some help from the wind, I got myself underneath his body and shoved myself up against his throat.

...Eight seconds in the air, eight seconds falling for our deaths, we crashed into the bottom of the fall. We parted from each other when we landed... I was expecting myself to be more damaged than how beat up I was from my fight with White Death, but for some strange reason and besides having a broken-arm, probably some re-opened wounds and gaining deep bruises, I was actually alright. It was most likely because White Death went down before me and when I thrust myself against his throat, his mouth had actually pulled down and could've shielded me from most of the impact I would've taken in if he didn't go down first.

Unfortunately, with my right-arm badly damaged and my left-leg cramping up from some of my healed wounds being re-opened, I had to use my right-leg and left-arm to pull myself up towards the surface.

_...You know, you could've launched yourself off of White Death and possibly avoid getting landing heavily into the water._

_'I could have, but White Death could've made a grab for my leg and have me do a painful bellyflop. Even if he would miss, I couldn't take the chance of him getting a second chance to attack me when landing into the water.'_

_**Best to have White Death be too distract to catch breath or have trouble getting up towards surface, rather than Pup making escape to avoid bruised injuries and leave Pup exposed for possible attack.** _

When I breach myself out of the water, I gulped in a mouth full of breath and hacked up water I inhaled when I crashed down to the bottom of the falls. I saw my blood mixing in with the water and the bubbles of the waterfall, giving me an upset stomach from the sight on how much blood I'm actually losing.

 _"Leo!"_  Raph sounded shocked when he said my name, but I can tell that he also sounded relieved to be seeing me alive.  _"Hang on, bro, I'll be right there!"_

Keeping my head above the water and forcing myself to swim with just one arm, I tiredly made my way for the right-side of the pool and latched on to the ledge of the concrete floor. Most of my strength is gone, leaving me to only grab on to the ledge until Raph can pull me out of the water.

_Hang in there. Raph will come down and once you're out of the water, you two can finally head back home and get the rest you need._

Too tired to argue with my Conscience on sticking to my plan, I simply laid my head on the ledge and closed my eyes to let them rest for a bit.

_**Pup mustn't fall asleep! Pup will let go and drown if Pup sleeps! Pup must stay awake!** _

I groaned, but opened my tired eyes to keep myself awake. As I waited for my brother to come down here and help me out of the pool, I felt an odd vibration forming within the water and, when I turned to see what was it that caused the suspicious vibration, saw bubbles popping out of the water at the other side of the pool... My eyes widen when I knew what was it and, in mere seconds, White Death popped himself out of the water and rested the upper-half of his body on the ledge to the left-side of the room.

He gasped for air, sort of like I'm doing, and seemed dazed to what's going on. Blood trickled down from his forehead, which I could guess could be when he slammed his head into the water. His right-arm hung a bit awkward on the ledge, most likely fractured from impact. I couldn't see the rest of his body, hidden underneath the water, but I know for sure that he took major damage at the harsh landing into the pool and doesn't seem like he can fight at all.

_Is he made of iron, or what?! No doubt that he took serious damage from that fall, but how could he get himself back to the surface, without any help?!_

His right-eye, still bleeding but not as bad as his left-eye, turned their gaze towards me, slit and narrowed. I couldn't read his face or expression on what he's thinking or is feeling, but I can tell that whatever's on his mind, it has me involved in it.

Despite my body having no more energy to fight, I narrowed my own eyes back at White Death and let out a low snarl, forcing my left-arm to slowly and wobbly pull myself over my ledge to try and stand on all four... My arm couldn't pull me up, but I was able to get almost half of the upper-part of my body out of the water and turn to the side a bit.

"Still want... To keep... Fighting?" I gasped out, coughing off the remaining water out of my lungs and trying to push aside my own weakness if White Death really wants to keep going. "I ain't... Going down... That easily."

He let loose a low growl and looked ready to push himself back into the water to come at me... But, for some odd reason, he stayed in his spot, looking rather tired and annoyed. After having a good old glare off for about a few minutes, he made his move and did something that I never thought he would ever do: He turned his gaze away from me and down to the concrete floor and water underneath him... And  _bowed_  his head towards me.

**"...I submit to you, Boy... I surrender."**

My eyes widen from what's happening before my eyes: White Death, the White Devil Sewer Monster of New York, the albino allidile who sheds blood without any hesitation and never spare the weak from death, has  _submit_ himself to me, admitting defeat! I narrowed my eyes at his sudden decision to give up.

 _'Is this some kind of trap for me to fall for?'_  I asked myself."What is this, White Death? Is this some kind of trick to get me to lower my guard and for you to finally kill me?"

White Death simply let out a tiring sigh and lifted his mighty head back up, gazing his red-eye back at me that held a stern look of tiredness and humility.

**"If this were some trick, I would've decided to stay in the water and pretend I died crashing into the water, waiting for your brother to come lift you out of the waters and for me to come out of the waters and crush you both by my weight."**

_...He does make a fair point and in the condition he's in, he wouldn't really put up much of a fight while he's bleeding to death._

_**Still, Pup mustn't trust White Death so easily or lower guard from sight of wounds. White Death may still plan attack for Pup and Kin.** _

I didn't stop glaring at him, but I slowly allowed my body to rest and give my left-arm a break from having to lift my deadweight body with what little strength it has left.

"If what you say is true, then why toss away a chance to finally be rid of me? Isn't that what you've been waiting for this whole time?" White Death chuckled at my question.

 **"Honestly, Kid, I'm just getting tired of this."** His answer confuses me, but I let him continue talking.  **"Always having to scavenge for food, that always ended up being trash I can't eat or prey that never hold me off for even a full hour, and having to deal with being on my own down here in this never ending maze of toxic darkness."**

I can understand how he feels about being stuck down here, but from what he claims about being 'tired' have me confused.

"What are you trying to say, White Death? That all this time, owning the whole West-Side of the city's sewer and striking fear into the hearts of those who live down here, you were actually looking for a way out of this place?" He smirked at my question.

 **"You really are a clever wolf, Mutt."** I let out a low growl at what he called me, but all that did was get him to laugh.  **"No need to get so worked up, Kid. You know that I speak the truth when I call you a 'mutt' and 'wolf', which is also a fact on why you called me an 'allidile' when we fought in my den."**

I stopped growling, but my glare stayed firm.

**"Tell me something, Kid: How did you figured out that I'm not a crocodile or an alligator, like your brother has mistaken me for being a crocodile?"**

"The same way you know that I'm part wolf; the scent of your blood gave it away." I told him. "When I took your fang a moon ago. It was covered in your blood, and it gave away an unusual earth/fire-like smell. None of the rats or fishes carry that scent, other than yourself. Also, your body appearance and anatomy would make any human confused if you're an alligator with a longer, v-shaped head, or a crocodile that appears to favor freshwater and can't adapt very well to seawater... And we all know that alligators and crocodiles can't breed together, and yet here's one now, though I doubt you became like this by nature."

White Death seemed a bit surprised to my observation, but only to let out a deep sigh.

**"Shouldn't really be surprised, that you would be able to smell my impure blood to being not from an alligator or a crocodile, considering that I most likely came out the same way you did."**

I cocked my head to the side.

"'Came out'?" White Death nodded his head.

**"Believe it or not, Kid, I didn't become an allidile by birth, like you already stated... I was made into this, by humans, in a laboratory. They injected me with some bluish-green substance, after putting me in a cage with an alligator and the moment they transferred it into me, I turned into this."**

My eyes widen in shock when he mentioned of humans giving him a bluish-green substance; I knew who he was talking about and what substance he's referring to.

"Did your body felt like it was on fire, drowning and burning your insides to leave you gasping for air, when they gave you that glowing liquid?" His right-eye held anger and hatred at my question.

 **"Yeah, it did."** He growled out.  **"I'll never forget about that burning feeling that burnt me from the inside-out, or how much I would want to kill a human as much as I did when they turned me into a monster. The only good thing about that dark gift they gave me, had allowed me to get my revenge on those humans and destroy their den. I eventually found myself in the sewers and had been here for twenty years, ever since."**

_'Even longer than we've been here, and before Master Splinter moved from Japan.'_

_ Despite living on the South-Side of the city and him living on the West, White Death must've knew we were living down here, all this time. _

_'He could've hunted us down and eaten us, including Sensei, but he didn't... Why didn't he?'_

**"Something on your mind, Boy?"**  White death groaned out, not liking the awkward silence between them, despite the roars of the fall being the only sound keeping the silence at bay. **"Best ask away, before that kin of yours get here."**

_**White Death's right, despite still not to trust him. Beta-Brother Raphael almost here.** _

"...You knew we were down here for ten years... You could've eaten us years ago... Why didn't you eat us?" I slowly shifted my shell to rest against the ledge, to better face the monster. "Why didn't you eat me, when you had the chance to finish me a moon ago?"

White Death let loose a low hiss, but it wasn't towards me. His gaze was to what was behind me, which was a tunnel that leads to an old control room of the wastewater treatment plant that would either open the hatch to allow water to pour out of here, or close it if the machines from the Surface World aren't working properly to let clean water out of the sewers... And my brother, Raphael, who stood paralyzed at the sight of White Death on the other side of the room.

"Don't worry, Raph, he's not going to strike." I assured him, keeping my eyes on the albino creature and waiting patiently for him to answer my question.

**"For your first question: I chose to wait and see if you'd all die from natural causes, before I would decide to eat you. You four were just mere hatchlings and wouldn't satisfy my hunger for being so small. Not only that, I can tell that your rat-father would be a difficult opponent to take down if I tried to come after you five."**

I nodded his head, understanding his reason to not have eaten me, my brothers and sensei when we were but mere hatchlings.

 **"As for your second question, it's quite simple: You're the first to not only stand up against me, but was also able to hold yourself longer than those who end up killed by my fangs and claws."** His claws dug into the concrete floor, almost describing on how much he enjoyed fighting me and seems to wanna go for another round with me, but his wouldn't give him a fourth try to take me down from the inflicted wounds covering his body.  **"You're the first thing that ever made anything down here fun and doesn't bore me, and I knew that we would fight again one of these days, so I chose to spare your life to live another day."**

"And you left me that fang of yours, as a promise that we'd fight again. You even took my bandana to find me by scent when you want to fight again." I whispered, slowly holding out his discarded fang with my right-arm, which was really difficult to do when trying to use a broken-arm to function right, to present it into their conversation. He nodded his head.

**"And a warning that the next time we fight, it would be a fight until only one of us is left standing."**

"...You do know better than to play with your food, let alone give your meal a fighting chance to live, White Death." Raphael limped his way towards his brother, with the help from the pipe to get him moving, and kneeled behind his brother.

**"You know me better than to simply give my preys a quick and painless death, Mutt. I prefer to see the look of fear in their eyes while suffering a painful death, I'm not one to show any kind of mercy to the weak. Besides, the fight we had really was payback for what you did to my oldest fang."**

"What are you doing, bro? Are you actually talking to that  **Yajuu**?!" Raph asked me, placing both his hands underneath both my arms, which forced out a gasp of pain when his right-arm grasped tightly on my broken-arm. He immediately let go my arms, not knowing what he did wrong until he saw the puncture marks on my right-arm.

"I already told you before, Raph. White Death's smarter and more intelligent than he appears to be. He can understand what we're saying to him." I grunted out, holding my broken-arm against my chest in case Raph tries to grab it again. I then stared back at White Death. "And now that the fight's over, I guess you'll want your fang back." I held out my arm and presented the fang towards the beast.

_What are you thinking?! You'll be defenseless if you give White Death his fang! There's no telling on what he'll do if he does take it!_

_'I know, but he hadn't lied to me when he answered my question and I can tell that he wish to leave us. The least I can do is return what belonged to him from the beginning of his life.'_

_**Better hope White Death doesn't pull any tricks, Pup.** _

The one-eyed allidile stared at the fang that once was his eldest fang that had stayed with him from the day he hatched from his egg, then back at me, a humanoid-wolf/turtle who can very much be the only creature close enough to be acknowledged as his equal. White Death let out a low growl and slowly shook his head at my offer.

 **"Keep it,"** he grunted.  **"I don't have any use for it, anymore. I already grew a new fang to replace it on the very day it came out."** He opened his jaw, once again showing his many rows of teeth to me and my brother, before snapping it close on purpose to freak Raph out. He let out a chuckle when Raph yelped in a panic but was able to not stand up or even lean against his fractured right-leg.  **"Besides, I think you should keep it, as a sign of proof that you lived to tell the tale on how you fought the mighty Sewer Monster of New York... And a symbol of reminder that we're more alike than you think we're not."**

I cocked my head to the side, but chose to ignore the comment.

"Now that you know where to get out of the sewers, where are you going to go?" I asked, slowly placing the fang back into the fold of my belt and slowly backing away when the allidile slowly made his way towards the trail of water that leads to the pipe pouring clean water into the ocean. He gazed at the small light, sitting at the end of the tunnel.

 **"Anywhere but here, and away from the humans... I'm going to find my freedom."** White Death stared back at me and gave out a cocky smirk, until it slowly dropped to a calm and serious face... Almost looking as if he feels a bit sad that he'll be leaving the sewers... Almost like he was sorry that he was leaving  _me_.  **"I know how much that means to you, wanting to go off and find your freedom... You know,** **I'd offer to take you with me, but it's pretty clear that you won't leave those nuisance that you call 'Pack' and don't trust me to not try and eat you when you sleep."**

I gave him a stern nod, placing my left-hand on top of Raph's hand, clenching on to the hand to be sure my brother was still behind me and to calm him of his fear.

 **"Calm down, Boy. If you think I'm gonna sneak around a back way and ambush you two and then go after your remaining brothers and rat-father, you can think again. I may be a bloodthirsty killer, but I always keep my word."** He thumped his tail against the water.  **"I gave you my word that I wouldn't go after your Pack, when I left you after our first encounter, and I'm still going to keep that promise to you... Although, if you would be so kind, consider this friendly advice, from one fellow half-blood to another."**

White Death gave Raph a cold glare, who tightened his grip on his my hand and placed his other hand on my shoulder, before gazing back my Cerulean/sapphire-eyes.

 **"You may have done well keeping your secret from your Pack, but know that you won't be able to hide it forever and that it's bound to come out, sooner than you think. And once they realize that you're not who you appear to be, that you're not like them and are literally a wolf in sheep's clothing, they'll cast you out of the clan and leave you to fend for yourself.** "

I gave out a tiring sigh.

"...I know." I whispered, lowering my gaze to the water surrounding my body. White Death let out an annoyed snort.

**"When that day comes, Mutt, don't shed any tears for them and know that on your own, the only person you need to look out for is yourself... That rat-father of yours need to know that eventually, even the most tamed and trained warrior will one day turn on their master, in order to protect the clan from their foes... Even if that enemy has to be one of their own, a _monster_."**

He didn't a reply back from me, which I kept my gaze down to the water and, as if I look like I was having second thoughts, look as if I wanted to ask White Death to leave the sewers with him. The albino monster let out a deep sigh and began to limp his way down the tunnel... I couldn't let him go out, without my own friendly advice.

"You know that the humans will find you," I warned the allidile, stopping him in his tracks on following the trail of water leading for the pipe. "And the moment they see you, they'll capture you and put you in a zoo... They'll stop you from finding your freedom."  _'Just like my Pack does with me...'_

"Leo, what are you trying to do?! Let him go and leave us alone! Who cares if he gets captured by the humans?!" Raph exclaimed, placing his right-arm over my chest and, with his left grasping on to my left-arm, started pulling me out of the water. With little to no trouble on getting me out, Raph sat beside me, keeping his arm around me to trap me within his embrace that he, from what I can sense from his grip, wanted to give me for so long.

White Death chuckled at both of us, amazed that I, his former enemy and opponent, would warn his enemy of the humans, and not really surprised or blame my brother to not caring what happens to the albino monster.

 **"Let them come and get me,"**  He tempted fate with a cocky smirk on his face. **"I'll put up a fight and show them how I was given the name 'White Death'. And if they do catch me, at least I'll be in a far more better place than living down here... Besides, it should be about time my fighting days are put to an end, freed or captured."** He then gave me a wink.  **"Take care of yourself, and _never_  quit fighting for what matters to you the most... Moon Scar."**

With that being said and saying his last words to his victorious opponent, White Death dived into the water and swam off towards his escape, vanishing forever from both mine and my brother's sights.

* * *

**Normal POV**

Minutes later, Leo let out a deep sigh.

"He's gone," he told his brother.

"Hope that he is." Raph growled out, tightening his grip onto his brother and glaring at the last place White Death was just standing at.

_**Beta-Brother Raphael can stop being scared. White Death's gone and won't comeback to sewers... White Death has gone for freedom.** _

_You can't blame him for still being terrified of the thought of White Death coming back to finish the job! Let's hope that we don't ever have to come across him and his kind, again!_

_**Don't speak too soon. Fate plays an unusual game, where Fate can either play fair or cheat to ones destiny that can be either good or bad. Pup may very well meet alligator or crocodile in mere future, but won't know when time will come.** _

_If we do meet one, let's hope that the next alligator or crocodile is nicer and less bloodthirsty than White Death._

Instead of him being silent to talk with his Instinct and Conscience or try to reassure Raphael that the danger has past, Leonardo leaned out over the ledge of the floor and vomit out the sewer water that he had swallowed after falling into the pool.

"Leo!" Raph cried, having his left-arm folded over Leo's chest and his right-hand patting on his shell, trying to soothe his brother as he continued to vomit the water out of his stomach. The sound of his brother throwing up sickens the red-masked turtle and made him worried when he saw some blood in the mixture of the regurgitated water, only to see that the blood was actually White Death's when Leo used his fangs to latch on to the white demon.

A minute later, and the vomiting finally subsided, much to both of the brother's relief. However, just when Raph thought the situation was going to get better, it just got worse.

" **Gomen'nasai** , Raph..."

Leo's strength on staying awake finally sapped whatever energy he had left in him and allowed his body to almost plunge back into the water if his brother wasn't holding on to him. Raph kept a firm grip on his brother, pulling him against his chest to let his head rest on something that wasn't hard as stone. He placed a hand over his forehead, noticing how clammy his skin looked... He has a fever, a high one from how flushed his cheeks were and serious his wheezing was from panting for breath. The two fights with White Death took a major toll on the maskless turtle's health and having to not have eaten anything for so long, wasn't helping with the situation of the fever.

Raphael shifted Leo's body to lean on his left-shoulder, gently folding Leo's right-arm over his chest so the arm doesn't get in the way or hit anything to shock wave of pain throughout his body, and wrapped his left-arm underneath his brother's body. Grabbing for the pipe that sat behind his shell, Raph pulled himself up to his feet. From how it was easy for him to get back on his feet, broken leg and all and having to hold his brother with just one arm, he knew that his brother's weight was much more serious than he thought from just physical appearance.

"Damn it, Leo... I messed you up, big time." Raph muttered to himself, already heading for the tunnel he came out when finding a way to get down from the top of the waterfall.

It leads to a set of stairs that the red-masked turtle took to get down, which was a bit of a struggle for him to keep his balance and footing from slipping when he ran down the steps as fast as he could. Going up the stairs with a busted leg and a unconscious brother in one of his arms was going to be another challenge, but going up the stairs was the only direction that leads back for the Lair.

With only one option that could irritate Leo's wounds until they rest the top but the only way to keep his balance while going up the steps, Raph had to lean against the railing on his left, at times having to stop to reposition his brother within his hold that results on moving the broken-arm and forcing out either a yelp or gasp of pain from the unconscious turtle. Raph hates himself for causing more pain to his brother when he has already suffered enough in one day, but he knew that the moment they're at the top of the stairs, it would all end and be forgotten.

A few minutes and seventeen forced out grunts later, they finally made it to the top and Raph can finally walk, as normally as he could with a turtle in one arm and the other using a pipe to lean on for a substitute crutch, towards the tunnel and down the path back to the trail. It was going to be smooth walking from here on out, as long as he doesn't try to run or move too quickly that could make him lose his footing. Smiling in relief, Raph stared down at Leo, who was still gasping for breath but didn't seem to be that much in pain anymore.

"Hang in there, bro. I'll get us home and  **Otousan's**  going to fix you up in no time." He leaned his head down and pressed his forehead against his brother's, something that Leo has always done ever since they were toddlers and would always do whenever his brothers get scared or hurt and needed to be reassured that everything's going to be alright. It has always been his way of comforting his brothers and had never failed to do its magic, that Raph knew he needs to assure his unconscious brother, and himself, that their problem will soon be over. "It's going to be alright, big bro. Everything's going to be alright, I promise."

Reluctant to pull away from his brother but making sure his grip on his brother wouldn't falter, Raphael continued on with his quest to head home, where he knew that he can present the Hamato Clan their missing loved one and have them finally call off the search for eldest turtle... Little did he know, that it was much too soon to assume that the worst was finally over and that everything would return to normal for the Hamato Clan, when it was actually the beginning of something that's neither good nor bad.  
 **End of Flashback...**

**TBC**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *: Mamoru is Japanese for "Protection".
> 
> *: Borivoj is Czech meaning "Great Warrior".
> 
> I don't really know how long that albino allidile/crocogator (I know that they call it an alligator in the episode: "Tales of Leo", but I stuck with crocodile until Leo stated his discovery of the white beast being half gator and half crocodile) was, but if it towers over Leo and Raph, no doubt it's larger and bigger than the humans. So, I just took a guess for the creature.
> 
> Also... In case you didn't know or had forgotten, but for the 2003 version of TMNT, of an episode of them being toddlers, there is a scene where we could see them running down the sewers. While they ran, there's one of them who ran on all-four (though it almost looks like he was doing leapfrog)... Which turned out to be Leonardo who was running on all four during that time. If you want to know the episode of the scene, there's only one that I know that shows it: S7E06 "Incredible Shrinking Serling".
> 
> R&R


	9. Act of Mercy

April didn't know what to say; after hearing the near-death experience Raphael and Leonardo just went through five years ago, it would make anyone too speechless to know what to even say at all.

Donatello kneeled beside Splinter, who placed both his hands on the floor when he hunched over and lowered his head, placing a hand on his sensei's left-shoulder to offer silent reassurance and comfort to the sad father.

"Shocking, isn't it?" Mikey asked April, who sounded all excited and happy when he was telling the story, now sounded scared and sad when he passed the role of storytelling to Raphael. "And even to this day, none of us could figure out how Leo was able to fight off the albino-dude for so long, or why it didn't try to finish our bro off when they both got out of the water."

A tremor of unease ran through her entire being, shivering from the thought of what the albino monster could've done to Leo when he was just a preteen.

"...It's... I don't even know what to say." She whispered, turning her gaze to the red-masked turtle, who turned his own gaze from their small group to the entrance of the lair, no doubt awaiting to see the sight of the eldest turtle to return from the fight with the Foot and rescuing Murakami. "Do you guys know what ever happened to that gator?"

"Last we heard from the news, which was about two years ago, it got shipped off to Gatorland in Colorado after the zoo keepers at the zoo found nearly all of their alligators and crocodiles killed." Don answered, his eyes downcast. Raph let out a snort of disgust.

"Should've shipped it off the very moment they fished it out of the waters, instead of bringing it to our Zoo... Better yet, they should've put it down the moment they set their eyes on that monster; seven people died by that monster, three were killed while they were still sedating it with tranquilizers and another four when getting it caged."

The girl didn't have to take a guess on how much the red-masked turtle wished the sewer had died, instead of it still being alive.

"I see..." A moment pause of silence went through the room. "...It must've been hard, to almost watch your brother die right before your eyes."

Realizing what she just said, April face-palmed herself on the forehead, muttering "stupid" to herself, and tried to apologize to Raph, when his reply stopped her from doing so.

"...It wasn't an easy sight to see, April." He grumbled out, still keeping his emerald-green eyes at the entrance of their home.

His left-hand clenched on to the back of the couch, his fingers digging into the cotton material of the furniture, trying to control the sick, scared feeling that history could be repeating itself the longer the blue-masked turtle took his time getting back home.

"And unlike Don and Mikey, despite them not being there to see it all like I did and afraid that we were going to lose him from how damaged he was when I got him back to the Lair, I wasn't just scared that I would be losing just a brother to that monster, but somebody who's more than just a brother or isn't just my only best friend I have in this life."

April cocked her head to the side.

"I don't understand," she said. "What do you mean he's more than just a brother or only best friend, Raph?"

"April, there's something about Leo and Raph that you should know about." Don explained to her, staying still in his place next to Splinter. "Leo and Raph may have a sort of love/hate connection towards each other whenever they get into an argument or a serious fight, but they truly care for each other. Believe it or not, they bond much more than Mikey and I do, and that's because... Well, it may come as a bit of a shock, but... Raph and Leo are more than just brothers: They're twins*."

April's jaw dropped from the news, earning a chuckle from Splinter and a small laugh from Mikey at seeing the stun look on her face.

"...They're... What did you just say?" She's positive that she misheard to what Don just said. There's no way that Leo and Raph, both who seem to be opposite from each other, are actually twins.

"Heh, I know. Big shocker, ain't it?" Raph smirked out. "But it's the truth. Brainiac made that discovery when he was analyzing our blood to see what type of blood we each have, just in case if one of us would need a blood transfusion that Leo almost needed."

He jerked his thumb at the purple-masked turtle, who blushed when he was brought on to the conversation and rubbed the back of his head.

"Like I already knew and figured out a couple years ago, thanks to the mutagen that mutated us into humanoid-turtles, we four carry Master Splinter's DNA, which also means we carry his genes as well, making us Sensei's biological sons. It's almost like we were grown-made, cloned probably, from Master Splinter's human-DNA when he was still Hamato Yoshi and are bodies are the vessels, hosts to be precise, for the cloning process to take place for the Mutagen to have us become his sons and still have our turtle anatomy, with human anatomy in the mixture*."

A small pause went around the room.

"Uh, Donnie, sort of off topic there." Mikey reminded, not sure on what his third older-brother just said for a moment but knew it wasn't on how he figured out the two eldest turtles are twins.

"Oh, right. Anyway, we each have different types of blood, but when I scanned through our genetics and analyzed our blood for any signs of serious illness we would probably have to be aware of in the mere future, I discovered that, despite the blood types and body structures being different, Leo and Raph's genetics are more similar to each other than they do with me and Mikey. And it's like some people say, 'there's a pair of twins in every group of quadruplets'. Although, for us, Leo and Raph are fraternal twins, non-identical twins."

"You wouldn't believe the look on Raph's face when Don told us that Leo and Raph are twins; it was hilarious and I even took a picture of it!" Mikey laughed out, lying on his shell and kicking his feet in the air, only to have his time of laughter to be cut short by his injuries and a warning growl by his older-brother. "I wish I could show you the picture, April, but  _somebody_  tore it into pieces, burned them on the stove in a pan and threw the remains in the trash before I had the chance to hide it."

April had her sky-blue eyes staring at Raph, imagining Leo into her head and compare the two on how similar they are... Which wasn't very much, but she can actually see on how the two eldest turtles can somehow pass as twins, even though they're non-identical.

"It does make sense of them being non-identical twins, but I can also see how they could've pass as twins, even if they weren't." She then turned back to stare at Don and Splinter. "How did Leo take the news about being twins with Raph?"

Don and Splinter look at one another, with Raph and Mikey doing the same. Mikey simply shrugged his shoulders, Raph shrugged only one shoulder, Splinter stroked his beard and Don rest his chin in his right-hand, tapping his right-foot lightly against the floor.

"He looked a bit surprised by the news, but other than that, he didn't really seem that fazed about it." The purple-masked turtle stated.

"Yeah, Dude, it was almost like he already knew they were twins or that it wasn't that much of a big deal to him that he's a twin to the hothead in the family." Mikey added in, who didn't get any sort of warning glare or growl from said hothead.

"Back to the subject at hand, my sons." Splinter told his sons, staring back at April. "We all feared that Leonardo wouldn't make it, especially on how deep the claw and bite marks were on his skin and how infected some of his wounds were. He wasn't conscious when Raphael brought him back and remained unconscious for three whole days. I had done the best I could to treat his injuries, but it was all up to Leonardo to pull through from what he's been through on his own."

* * *

 **Flashback: April Twentieth, 2007; three Days Later...  
** "Master Splinter, why isn't Leo waking up?" Mikey asked his father, staring down at the unresponsive turtle who laid motionless on the couch, his head resting on a pillow on top of Splinter's lap.

Splinter let out a tiring sigh, his ears dropped and gaze downcast, as he gently placed his hand on Leo's forehead and slowly stroke his head.

"I do not know, Michelangelo." He answered, hating himself for not knowing the answer to why his eldest child still sleeps and has not woken up during the three days he finally returned home. "I truly do not know..."

Heartbroken by his father's answer, Mikey gazed sadly at his maskless brother, wishing that his big brother will wake up already and their family can finally go back to normal before that terrible argument had ever occurred.

When he, Don and Splinter went back to the Lair, all three of them finding not one, smallest hint to finding their missing loved one, they had all feared that he went up to the surface and got himself captured by the humans, most likely dead after being dissected or hunted down like a wild animal that he would appear to be to the humans. However, when Raphael returned, he wasn't alone nor did he came back empty handed like the rest of the Hamato Clan: Held in the crook of his left-arm, maskless and unresponsive, is his eldest brother, Hamato Leonardo.

It brought a smile on Don, Mikey and Splinter's face, but their happiness on seeing their long-lost loved one was immediately cut short when they saw the condition both boys were in. Both their legs were damage, their plastrons engraved with scratches and their bodies covered in bruises. While Raph's worst injury is his fractured right-leg, Leo's wounds were more severe and in worst condition than the red-masked turtle's wounds: Scratches and bite-markings covered his shell and plastron, his right-arm having four large puncture holes that indicates bite wounds, with two puncture wounds on both sides of the limb, his left-leg having three scratch marks that reach over the halfway point of his thigh and bleeding, three claw marks at the back of his head that are also bleeding and a crescent-moon scratch over his right-eye.

Without any hesitation, even though horrified at the poor condition his eldest child appears to be and noticing the few signs of infection taking over the ten year-old's body, Splinter took Leo out of Raph's hold and immediately made his way into his room, where a few of his herbs and medical kit were kept safe inside and ready to be used after ten years of being held on to for emergencies such as this. Splinter never felt so glad that he was able to get his medical kit and herbs, along with the rest of his belongings, when he got mutated into a humanoid-rat, before the landlord of his old apartment had reported him missing and would've dispose his belongings to The Salvation Army. While the forty-five year-old quickly went to work on treating Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo helped Raph to the bathroom and did what they can do to help him with his fractured leg.

It took Splinter over an hour and a half to clean the wounds that were infected, apply the gel from the plant of an Aloe Vera on both the old and new wounds and Yarrow on the wounds that are bleeding, stitch up the scratches on his left-leg, place a medical patch on the back of the head, splint the radius and humerus of his right-arm and wrap the wounds up in gauze, until he finally finished treating Leonardo's wounds. While it took a few minutes for Don and Mikey to wash away the blood and dirt that may had entered Raph's leg, and temporarily splint his leg until Don could make a cast for him and Leo to have in order to have their bones heal correctly. Don even took the time to turn the pipe that Raph was using to moving around into a homemade crutch, making it more comfortable and easier to grab on for Raph to use.

After Don had informed their father that they treated Raphael, Splinter decided it would be best to have Leonardo stay in his room for the night, just in case his health takes a turn for the worse and for him to be close by to take care of the situation. None of the brothers liked the idea of not seeing their big brother before they went to bed, especially Raph when his temper got him to yell at Splinter and demanded to see Leo, but they all eventually accepted their father's comply to let their brother stay with their father, if he would move Leo to the living room couch in the morning.

Luckily for the family, except for the fever and the wheezing in his breathing, Leo's health and condition wasn't in any danger and seemed to look a bit better than he did when brought back home with Raph. And so, just as he promised his three sons, Splinter moved the maskless turtle to the living room and that's where the cerulean/sapphire-eyed turtle has remained for the last two days. And during those three days, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo had slept in the living room, not wanting to leave their big brother alone for more even a minute, unless to use the restroom, until they know for sure Leo was going to be alright.

In the mean time, while Mikey and Splinter chose to stay in the living room to keep Leo company, Don has taken the time to head for his lab and do a little research on what to do when a human and/or turtle gets infected wounds and what the family needs to keep an eye out for if the eldest turtle gets worse or doesn't wake up. And Raph... Well, because of his fractured leg preventing him from blowing off steam in the Dojo and not wanting to disturb his sleeping brother by attack the practice dummy or loud video games, he decided to lock himself in his bedroom and take the quiet moment to sleep or figure out what he should do once Leo wakes up.

Glancing down at the uninjured hand that isn't underneath the blanket and hanging over the side of the couch, the three-fingered hand resting on the ground and leaning next to the sofa, Michelangelo reached for Leonardo's right-hand and held it gently in both of his. No reaction was made from the maskless turtle, not even the slightest twitch was made when his hand was held in the firm but gentle grasp of his baby brother.

"...But he's going to wake soon, isn't he?" The orange-masked turtle asked his father, staring up with his big, puppy-dog like eyes, begging for the humanoid-rat to give him the answer that he wants to hear. It's always hard for Splinter to refuse his sons whenever they give him their sad puppy-dog eyes, especially when his youngest son would give him the look on his own. However, if there was one thing the forty-five year-old father would never do, even if it were to crush his sons' their happiness and spirit, is to lie to his children just to try to cheer them up that would end up backfiring.

Though he may not know when his eldest child will wake up, Master Splinter knows that Leonardo won't sleep forever and isn't hibernating when he had already slept through the whole Winter. With those comforting thoughts in mind, along with the knowledge that his son doesn't have any sort of head injury that would be causing him to remain unconscious, the rat-father leaned forward and placed a hand on top of Mikey's head, giving him a comforting smile and a reassuring look to don't lose his faith.

"Leonardo will wake up when it's time for him to awaken, Michelangelo." He calmly explained to the youngest child, choosing his words carefully to be sure that "...But yes, he shall awaken... Perhaps sooner than we may think."

That brought a smile on the orange-masked turtle, who beamed to his father's words and went back to his cheery self. Splinter smiled and let out a light chuckle, happy that he made his youngest child happy once more, even if it was for a moment. Mikey let out a giggle when his father let out his laugh, until his stomach let out a growl, signaling how empty it was and that it wants food. Splinter let out another chuckle at his child's stomach growling, then stared at the TV, seeing the News Channel on and presenting its five o'clock update of the hour of day.

"Why don't you go get Raphael and Donatello? It's time for dinner."

Usually, at a time like this, the food-loving turtle would head for the direction of his brothers and call for them to get ready for dinner, then he would make a beeline for the kitchen to help himself to some of the algae and worms that was already prepared for the family and already be eating before the rest of the Hamato Clan has served themselves. However, with his big brother unconscious and battered, his love for food and eating has been put on hold and made the orange-masked turtle a bit sick to his stomach on eating when one of his big brothers are unable to eat with him.

At first, Michelangelo was going to refuse and choose to stay and continue on watching over Leonardo, but he knows that he mustn't worry his father and/or his two older brothers for his lack of eating and that they must focus on getting Leo better. And so, knowing that he must prevent himself from getting sick and end up on the couch to recover like Leo and Raph, along with noticing the look in his father's eyes that he wish to have some alone time with the maskless turtle, Mikey nodded his head to his father's request.

"Hai, Sensei."

Before he got to his feet to gather his brothers for dinner, Mikey slightly tightened his hold on his brother's uninjured hand and gently placed it back underneath the blanket. He gave his brother sad smile, then leaned forward and placed a light kiss on Leo's forehead, something that the eldest turtle would do to silently tell his brothers that he loves them whenever one of them tells him they love him first.

"Sleep well, Leo... I hope you'll wake up soon." He whispered into his brother's ear, nuzzling his head against the maskless turtle's, then got to his feet and made his way to get his two older brothers for dinner.

With his youngest off to do as he suggested on doing, Splinter turned his attention back to his eldest child, continuing on gently stroking his head and silently wishing that Leonardo will come out of his unconscious state and open his Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes that the father missed seeing for the passed month. Tears formed in his reddish-brown eyes when his hope went unanswered and the ten year-old continues to sleep away the time that slowly went by. When they finally came running down his cheeks, with some of them splashing lightly on Leo's face that didn't get even the slightest twitch out of him, did the father felt he can and could no longer pretend to be strong when the walls he built of his deepest emotions finally broke.

As swift and gentle as he is, he pulled his son's body on his lap and rested Leonardo's head against his chest, where his heart was beating at a heavy and fast rhythm that was anywhere but normal or calming, wrapping his bandaged-wrapped arms around his son to keep him safe within his grasp. No doubt that if anybody, including his three youngest sons, were to see him now, they would come to believe he's holding a small child instead of a ten year-old humanoid-turtle that's supposed to be the eldest turtle in the Hamato Clan... And he wouldn't care what others would think of him, as long as he gets to hold his child that he missed being in his life for the passed month and a week.

It was too much for the great Hamato Yoshi to handle, let alone get over of the possibility that his sons were bound to get themselves wounded in the future battles that are going to happen. And having to see one of his sons, one of his  _babies_ , badly wounded that resulted on him using his emergency first aid kit and herb plants that he was able to grow, brought up terrible memories of the fire that will always remind him of his past failure for letting his wife and baby daughter die by the hands of the Shredder.

"My son, please, you must awaken." He whispered to the maskless turtle, using his thumb to lightly stroke the boy's left-cheek that isn't wrapped in any bandage and was left undamaged. "I do not know if you can hear me, but if you can, I ask of yo-...  **Iie** , I  _beg_  of you to come out of your abnormal sleep and return to us." He pulled back to stare down at the calm expression on his son's face before he leaned in and placed a light kiss on his forehead, just above where Mikey laid his mark on his big brother. The rat-father then gently laid his forehead against his son's and closed his eyes, his tears continuing on streaming down his cheeks and landing lightly on either Leo's skin or one of the bandages he wears over his wounds. "Your brothers need you here, Leonardo...  _I_ need you here,  **Musuko**."

After pulling his head away, laying his son's head back over to his chest and refusing to keep him out of his protective hold, Splinter lifted his head and gaze at the ceiling, imagining that he's staring into the sky and is trying to search for one hint that the Almighty God is staring back at him... Along with his own father, Hamato Yūta, and the rest of the Hamato Clan who perished in the flames, especially the ones who were killed by the hands of the Shredder... Including his beloved wife and daughter, Tang Shen and Hamato Miwa.

" **Shite kudasai, chichi**  (Please, Father)." He whispered to the empty space and blank ceiling above him. "I've already lost my family once by the one who was once my brother, please don't make me lose my family again... Don't let me lose another loved one...  _Please_ , don't take away another one of my  **Nyūyōji**  (babies)...!"

His breath quivered and fear shot through his heart from the thought of losing another of his family, another of his children... Losing his first son, like he had lost his only daughter. And Splinter knows that the moment Leonardo's gone, his brothers would soon follow and once all of his children are gone, he would be all alone and would have nobody, not even Oroku Saki, to blame for the loss of his family. He would then lose all reason to keep on living and would find a way to end his suffering... Which means, he would face Oroku Saki, prepared or not, and would drag the both of them to their deaths, to put an end to their clan rivalry and the grudge between the two who once called each others 'brothers'... Which is something Shen would never want him to do.

" **Shite kudasai, watashi no musuko**  (Please, my son), you mustn't give up." Splinter pressed on, resting his head on top of his son's. "I know that I'm the one at fault for you to run away from home, from  _us_. If I'd only known you were planning to leave us that day, if I'd made the training fair for you and your brothers... If only I'd truly did treated you and your brothers equally, to show I see you all equally special in your own way and that I love you all equally, either when having all four of you together or even spending time with just one of you four, none of this would've happened and Raphael wouldn't had felt the urge to speak such words that he never meant to say out of anger. And for that, Leonardo, I'm so sorry."

His back started to ache, so he gently got off the couch and sat down on the floor, resting his back against the cushion of the couch he just sat in.

"I know that apologizing won't be enough to repair the damage that's been made, especially when it's been going on for over a month, but I swear to you, Leonardo, that I'll become a better father to you and your brothers, if you'll give me a chance to fix this. Please, give me a chance to become a better father, and awaken from your slumber." He slowly rocked himself back and forth. "...You four are all I have left in my family, my only reason to keep living...  **Onegai**  (Please), don't leave me, too..."

He didn't know how long they stayed like; sitting all alone in the living room, holding his unconscious son against his chest and on his knees on the cold-floor. However, sensing the fatigue in his muscles from staying still in the same position for a good while and hearing the sounds of his three youngest sons breathing deeply in calm rhythm within their own bedrooms, it was late and the father of the four turtles must get some rest.

And so, after placing his eldest son back on the couch to rest, pulling the cover over his form to keep him warm and placing a final kiss on the boy's forehead to wish him goodnight, the great Splinter positioned himself to his meditation position and, without any resistance on fighting, allowed the darkness to pull him into a meditate-like sleep... Knowing fully well what will be waiting for him within the deep subconscious of his mind and dreams.

**In Splinter's Dreams...  
** _Darkness... All he can see is the black void that has always greeted him when he sleeps... And within the dark void, there comes a scream of a woman... Followed by a scene of red... Which leads the humanoid-rat to the scene of his destroyed world and living Hell: The deaths of his beloved wife, Tang Shen, his baby daughter, Miwa, and the fire that consumed the home of the Hamato Clan._

_**"I-Iie..."** He stuttered, falling to his knees and bowing before the burning building that was once the mighty Dojo of the Hamato Clan... And before him, unresponsive and has gone deathly pale, lays Tang Shen... Dead... The one thing that stuck out of the beautiful woman, the one thing that wasn't supposed to be on her, is the blood-covered claw-marks that came from her neck and left-shoulder, down to her right-hip and chest._

_He raised a trembling to rest on her face and, using the other hand to cup the back of her head, pulled the upper-half of her body to him and rested her head against his chest. He slowly rocked the both of them back and forth, as tears streamed down his face._

_**"Shen... My Saisai (Beloved)..."** He pulled back to stare at the uncomfortable, calm expression on her face, gently brushed aside part of her hair to get out of the way from her closed-eyes and leaned down to lay a kiss on her forehead. Splinter then rested his own forehead on top of his wife's forehead and closed his eyes, as his tears landed lightly on her face and trailed down to the side.  **"**_ **Gomen'nasai**  (I'm so sorry) **, my love..."**

_**"...You brought this on yourself, Yoshi."** _

_Splinter snapped his eyes opened and lifted his head from his wife's, his anger and rage rising the very moment one word was spoken to him by a familiar sound he would never forget._

**'...That voice!'** _Hamato Yoshi knows that voice anywhere and for the rest of his life, even in death, he won't ever forget that voice... For the voice belongs to the one person who caused the death of his wife, daughter and the rest of the Hamato Clan. His eyes saw nothing but red, **blood**  red, when he turned his head to see and stared into the cold, vengeful eyes of Oroku Saki, The Shredder._

_His clawed-hands clenched their hold on Tang Shen for a moment, keeping her pressed up against his chest to where his heart beat at an angry paste, before gently setting her down and standing protectively over her very still form, as he forced himself to face his arch enemy and let loose a low snarl._

**_"Saki... Anata hitogoroshi_** (You murderer) _ **!**_ ** _"_** _Splinter yelled, his claws drawn out and allowed himself to spring forward towards his enemy. **"You killed her!"**_

**_"I did no such thing!"_ ** _Saki yelled back, rolling off to the side to dodge Splinter's attack and unsheathing the metal-claws of his gauntlet. **"It was you who caused her death!** You **are the one who killed her! Who took her away from me, when you knew we were meant to be together!"**_

_He charged the moment the humanoid-rat landed on the ground with his back facing him and thrusted his steel-claws of his gauntlet out, immediately going in for the kill. Just before the tips could even scratch into the fine material of the robe, Splinter forced himself to backflip over his opponent and, shifting his body in midair, gave Saki a good roundhouse kick in the side when the enemy tried to shift himself to leap towards Splinter._

**" _She was never yours to have... She has never been yours to begin with!"_** _Splinter hollered, not hesitating to run at Saki's fallen form and pinning him to the ground, his claws digging into his enemy's shoulders and drawing out blood. **"You were the one who stabbed her! Who spilled her blood with your own weapon!...** You **are the one, who's hands are covered in her blood!"**_

_Saki, who glared back at him the whole time, punched Splinter in the stomach, the force being another to have the humanoid-rat to lose his grip on his opponent's shoulders and to land harshly on his side. Saki got back to his feet and planted a foot on Splinter's chest, the claws of his weapon held out in front of the rat's face._

_**"And you just sat there and watched it all happen, when you could've done something to save her from being stabbed! Just like when you stood there and let one of your sons hurt your eldest child by his words, which caused him to run away and almost die from protect said kin who hurt him!"** He put more force into his foot, forcing a sharp intake of breath out of Splinter and keeping him pinned down on the ground.  **"You knew you could've done something to save Shen, to save one of those disfigured freaks who you call your sons. Instead, you chose to save yourself and let her die! You chose to stay out of the way and let your sons hurt each other!"**_

_Despite knowing what Saki was trying to do, Splinter could do nothing but take in what his former brother just told him... And in a way, somewhere deep down within his subconscious and heart, he believed him._

**_"You know that I speak the truth, when I tell you that your actions, alone, are enough to tell me of your failure as both a husband and a father. Hence, why else is your actual blood-child gone?"_ **

_Reddish-brown eyes widen from the bringing up of his first child, his first **baby**  and only daughter, Miwa, into the conversation, which he had no answer to Saki's question; he didn't know the whereabouts of his child, during the night of the fire; he believed she had perished within the flames, like the rest of the Hamato Clan. He looked everywhere for her when the fire died and when a cloudy dawn rose from the horizon, but not one hint of a clue told him where to find his missing daughter and, with a heavy heart, was convinced she died in the flame._

_Saki let a smug smirk be plastered on his face, seeing the look of remorse and devastation Splinter held within his very soul for failing his family in Japan, which gave him the_ _opportunity to bring him down while lost in his grief._

**_"You failed as a father to your blood-child, and you failed once more as a father to those pathetic creatures."_ ** _He pulled back his right-arm, aiming the claws for Splinter's chest to pierce one of his lungs and/or chest. **"Allow me to put an end to your suffering and relieve the burden your sons are better off to last without."**_

_Splinter snapped out his moment of grief, but knew it was too late to try and break free from Saki's grasp. Just when his enemy brought down the claws of his gauntlet for the heart and lungs..._

**_"Awwooo!"_ **

_A cry of an animal caught both men's attention to stare up at a, for some odd reason how it was there, rocky cliff, with a silhouette of a short but large creature standing on the ledge of the cliff, with the moon glowing behind said creature. Before either men could do or even say anything about it, the mystery creature ran down the cliff, coming down the cliff with no sign of struggle or the slightest hint of losing its footing while running with the wind, moving like a shadow trying to hide from the light. When it swiftly made it to the bottom and stood on a tall rock, it launched itself towards the two men, shoving Saki off of Splinter and pinning him to the ground for a second time... At the same time, getting impaled by the steel-claws of the gauntlet._

_Blood spilled down the claws, as the tips of the steel-claws stuck out in the back and midsection of the creature. Splinter, who got himself off the ground and sat up in a squatting position, stared wide-eyed shock at what just happened to the unseen creature before his very eyes... And yet, in spite being stabbed through by the Shredder's steel-claws, it didn't seem to do anything to the mystery creature, which should've actually killed it and eventually slouched on top of the one who impaled it._

_The silhouette let loose a low growl at Saki, angered that the fiend was bold enough to stab it through the chest in thinking it would die so easily to the selfish man, as it kept its body on top of Saki to prevent him from getting back up, no matter how many times the man struggled to free himself or how deeper he tries to sink the claws further through his chest. When he finally ceased his struggle, his eyes held confusion and anger and his body trembled in fear, when his gaze stared into the eyes of the unknown creature._

**_"What is this?"_** _He growled out, jerking his head up to expose his neck when the creature laid one of its appendages to the bottom of his throat and pressing pressure down to cut off his breathing for air. **"Kore wa nani**_ (What the hell is this) _ **?! Why didn't you die?!"**_

**_...Heh..._ **

_A low smirk of a sound echoed around the three figures; one still crouched low, still completely stunned by what just happened moments ago. The second forced down to the ground and struggling to pull free from the third figure, who had yet to reveal its true-self to both men. And oddly enough, Saki even tried to pull the steel-claws of his gauntlet out of the creature, thinking it would bleed to death from blood loss, but couldn't seem to even move an inch out. It was almost like something, or_ **_somebody_ ** _, is holding on to his weapon and won't let him pull the claws out of the figure._

_During the pulling and struggling, the appendage pressed down harder onto Saki's throat, forcing him to choke and needing air. And during that time, the blue-orb of the moon rose higher into the air until it stood in the center of the sky. It's light bringing down on all three of the figures on Earth, revealing the identity of the dark-silhouette pinning down Saki and who saved Splinter's life by taking the attack for itself: A black-wolf._

_The appendage, now being shown as a paw, sunk its claws deeper into the flesh of Saki's throat, drawing blood and forcing the man's face to turn a slight bit blue._

_**"Naze anata wa kore o yatte imasu ka**_  (Why are you doing this) _ **?"**_  He choked out his question, glaring into the eyes of the creature to have dark-brown eyes staring into cerulean/moon-blue eyes, sounding and even looking as if he knows who the wolf before him is and why it was doing this to him.

In response, the black-wolf lifted his lips to reveal his rows of white-fangs, let out a snarl from its throat and let its eyes narrow out hatred and disgust in its ocean/moon-like eyes at the human under its paws and at its mercy.

 _ **Watashi wa kare no kagedakara**_  (Because I'm his shadow) _ **.**_ The moment it said those, speaking in clear Japanese language that stunned both Saki and Splinter while the voice echoed in the air around them, the beast swiftly lowered its head and, with its jaws parted from each other, clamped his fangs down on Saki's throat, more than halfway consuming the human's throat and holding it in the grasp of its fangs.  _ **And your actions, to what you did to Tang Shen and the Hamato Clan, allows death to be your punishment.** With nothing more to say to the human in its grasp, just one bite,  **hard** , onto the neck and that was all it took to silence Oroku Saki, The Shredder._

_The sound of bone snapping and the sight of blood seeping through the wolf's jaw made Hamato Yoshi sick to his stomach, but knowing he was brought down made the weight of his self-blame lifted off of his shoulders. However, he knows that the moment the animal no longer has its attention on the now deceased Saki, he does not know what his fate would be and if he should fight the large-creature if it chose to attack him as well._

**_You're a fool, Hamato Yoshi._ ** _The voice of the animal broke him out of his train of thought, as it pulled its fangs out of Saki's neck and used its paw to push the arm that still had the claws in its chest out and away. **To let the words of this pathetic, excuse of a human to get to you and bring you down, when you were caught up in your own self-pity.** The wolf walked off of the body of the last, remaining Oroku, not showing even the slightest sign of being injured and/or hurt by the gauntlet, and stood in front of the humanoid-rat who now calls himself 'Splinter'.  **But, then again, this is what you've been telling your sons to not do and to not let words, no matter how hurtful they are, to get to them.**_

_Reddish-brown eyes widen in shock, surprised that a creature he never seen in all his life, besides seeing them on the television, would know what he's been teaching his sons to do._

_**"How-?"** _

_**Do I know what you've been trying to teach your sons to**   **do?**  The wolf cut him off, its expression showing no signs of emotions but the eyes of the creature showing irritation and appeared rather bit annoyed at the rat. **It's like I said to Saki. I'm his shadow; I know everything about him and what he goes through in his life, whether it be in dreams or even in the Conscious World.**_

_The words of the wolf now brought a new confusion to what it just said to him._

**_"Nani?"_ **

_He had actually thought that the wolf told Saki that it was his own shadow, since he was the only person around when the wolf spoke to his enemy and, judging the anger and disgust in the creature's voice when it growled and spoke to Saki, which for some reason sounds very familiar to the rat, there was not even the slightest chance that it was referring itself to being Saki's shadow._

_Seeing the confused look on Splinter's face and the question to his word, the creature let out a grunt of a snort._

**_What? Did you actually think I meant I was_ ** _your **shadow?** The wolf shook its head.  **Sorry, Hamato Yoshi, but I'm afraid you're mistaken; If I were**  your **shadow, I would be a creature that's best suited for you... Well, besides you being a rat.**  It let out a low chuckle at the last comment it made, before getting back to explaining itself. **No, what I meant was** **I'm** his **shadow.** The creature then lifted its head and jerked its nose up into the air, indicating for Splinter to look where it's pointing its nose at._

_Hesitant at first, for a split second thinking the wolf will attack him once his back is turned to it until seeing the eyes of the creature showing no sign to harm him, Splinter turned his head to the direction where the creature is trying to point at, looking back at the cliff he saw the creature cried out from... And his eyes widen in disbelief to what he saw at the very top of the cliff._

_There, standing at the edge of the cliff and the moon's light gazing down with her beam of light, is Hamato Leonardo. Awake and gazing down at his father with a calm, yet unreadable expression on his face. Splinter, who just gotten back on his feet in order to see what the wolf was trying to have him look at, felt his knees losing their strength to make his body wanna collapse back to the ground once more, which he allowed himself to do._

**_"M-Musuko..."_ ** _He_ _stuttered, startled to be seeing his eldest child standing above him, showing no sign of being afraid at standing over the ledge at such a long height or any indication of pain or injury he sustained from fighting with the Sewer Gator._ **'He's awake. He's okay... But how?'**

_**Still haven't figured it out, let alone remember, don't you?** The wolf's voice stole Splinter's attention, who now stood beside the humanoid-rat and stared up at the ten year-old who he revealed to be his shadow.  **Even if I wasn't able to watch over him during the time he's in the Conscious World, it wouldn't take me long to figure out what a fool you are.**_

_For some odd reason, despite not knowing for sure if the wolf doesn't truly mean any harm to him or to even his son, the_ _presence of the beast brought a sort of comfort and a familiar aura that seems to soothe his soul and chase his troubles away, like it just did when it finally brought down Oroku Saki, the Shredder, to spare him from death._

_**"What do you mean?"** _

_Rather than answer the humanoid-rat or even bother to stare at the rat, the wolf took off running and leap its way up the cliff, heading for Leonardo, who didn't look even the slightest bit afraid of the shadow creature coming for him, knowing that his own shadow would never harm him. When it finally reached to the top and now stood across in front of the ten year-old, the creature gazed into the scared eyes of the worried father._

_Cerulean/moon-blue eyes of the wolf, that Splinter realized are nearly identical to his son's Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes, stared down into the rat's Ruby/ember-like eyes, mesmerizing his gaze in order to draw his attention away from the preteen it stood protectively over._

_**You are in a dream, Hamato Yoshi. A dream that you let take control over you by feeding it your sadness and suffering of the past. And now, it's time for you to wake up.** _

_Just by the voice of the wolf saying the word 'wake up', the moon seemed to have gotten a bit more brighter than it normally did, forcing Splinter to squint his eyes a bit and to shield them with the fold of his arm going over his forehead._

**_"I'm... In a dream?"_ ** _He questioned the two, hoping that his son would actually speak this time and not the familiar, yet unknown, echoing voice of the shadow creature. **"I'm still asleep?"**_

_The wolf grunted and gave a firm nod at the rat, while turning to the ten year-old to allow him access to get on its back._

_**"Wallowing yourself in your own** _ **_self-pity and feeling sorry for yourself to what happened to Tang Shen and your clan, is what brought you to this dream in the first place."_ ** _He finally spoke! Leonardo finally spoke to him, as he helped himself to get up on the wolf's back, who didn't show the slightest sign of discomfort of the ten year-old getting on its back. **"If you want to put an end to the nightmares and the guilt you harbor within yourself, Sensei, you must let go of the past, face them head on and remove the source of the problem, not allow yourself to be consumed in your own misery of the past that was never caused by you in the first place."**_

_The moon glowed brighter, its light consuming the darkness and the land_ _before its presence, including the bodies of Tang Shen and Oroku Saki and the fire of the Hamato Clan house. As the light blinded his vision, Splinter was barely able to see the shadow creature and his son standing over the ledge before their image also began to be consumed by the light and growing smaller. He raised a hand towards them, as he felt himself being pulled away into the light._

**_"Wait! Leonardo!"_ **

_The shadow creature lifted its head to let out a howl, as if saying farewell to the once man known as Hamato Yoshi._

_**It's time to wake up, Hamato Yoshi... Now, wake up!**   
_ **End of Splinter's Dream...**

"Hah!"

Snapping his eyes open and leaning forward to have his hands hold him up and to avoid crashing onto the floor or hitting the couch in front of him, Splinter let out many gasps for breath that he felt to have lost from his dream, which was more of a night terror than some ordinary nightmare. His heart beat at a wild paste, as if he just ran a marathon, and his vision was still trying to catch up to the conscious from being snapped wide open to escape the nightmare he just had.

In just mere seconds of catching his breath, his heart finally slowed down to its normal beat and, after rubbing his eyes to clear away the sleep within them, did the humanoid-rat finally come to conclusion that he's alright.

 _'It was just a dream, Yoshi.'_ He thought to himself, letting out a deep exhalation out of his lungs and letting his eyes rest a bit by letting them see nothing but the darkness.  _'It wasn't real... **He**  doesn't know where you are and hasn't found your or your sons... We're all here, safe and sound.'_

His mind may agree to him about that part... However, his gut was tying itself into knots for some reason, telling him that there's a flaw to his deduction. His eyes opened slightly as they narrowed in confusion.

 _'Something isn't right, but what is it?'_ Even though he's still staring at the ground and at the bottom of the couch, his eyes can see and tell him that he's still in the living room, along with the light of the television still being on to light up the dark room. His hearing caught the sound of people talking from said television, with the mixture of faint waters dripping from the pipes outside of their home and the sounds of his three sons sleeping soundly through the metal doors...

Immediately, he knew what that flaw was. Swiftly raising his head to stare at what he knows should be in front of him, his heart froze in fear and his eyes widen in horror when he saw an empty space on the couch and a discarded blanket laying over the back of the furniture, where he should actually be seeing his eldest child laying in that spot with the discarded blanket wrapped around his wrapped up form.

Extending a trembling hand to lay it on the cushion where he knew his son was just on when he went to sleep, the humanoid-rat felt barely any body heat on the furniture, indicating that the eldest turtle had left his spot for a good while. In no less than a second, Splinter was on his feet and had his eyes search his surroundings.

"Leonardo?" He called out, his eyes looking everywhere they could see for any sign of the missing child that was supposed to be on the couch. "Leonardo?!"

The doors to his sons' rooms are solid metal and thanks to Donnie for adding a few touches to make them block out any unnecessary sounds the boys didn't want to hear from outside of their rooms, none of Splinter's younger sons were aroused by rising sound of his voice.

"My son, where are you?!"

Leonardo wasn't behind the couch, nowhere in the kitchen, or even in his own bedroom, which the humanoid-rat has went to those destination to check if the injured turtle has actually moved himself to one of those location. After running out of the hallway of his sons' rooms, his eyes stared in horror at the entrance of their home towards the darkness behind the turnstiles, fearing that his son was not only successful at not waking him up from his meditated sleep but was also able to, scratched up leg and broken arm and all, leave the Lair and go back to wherever he has taken shelter at when he ran away from his family.

Splinter's heart quivered a few beats, that he tightly grasped on to his robe, his claws digging into the material to avoid digging in his own flesh, feeling like it was breaking on just the thought of never being able to find one of boys again, especially if they're still recovering from terrible wounds that would've became life-threatening if they weren't treated on time.

The hand that wasn't clenching on to his robe turned into a tight fist, claws digging into his palm and drawing blood.

 _'No...!'_  He thought to himself, letting out a low hiss on thinking of the sewer gator, instead of being gone like Raphael has told him and his younger sons when telling them what happened to him and Leonardo, that it would go after his eldest child for a final fight and kill him like it had intended to do.  _'I won't stand by and lose another one of my family for a third time!'_

With his mind set on what he must do, he made a dash towards the entrance of his Lair and at the darkness standing outside. The moment he ran through one of the turnstiles and just before he took a step into the darkness, something in the back of his head and heart froze him from going out.

Annoyance and anger dominated over his senses and mind of confusion; why has his body suddenly stopped listening to his brain on leaving the Lair, where his eldest baby is out there, alone and wounded, and could end up dead without his father there to protect him?

Splinter would've shaken off the feeling that was holding him back to leave the Lair... If that feeling hadn't given him a sense of a sign that his fears of a worried father was blocking him from realizing that the atmosphere of their home has changed... And that his son, may not, be gone as he thought him to believe.

_'He's still here? In the Lair...? But where?'_

Splinter knows for a fact that his eldest child isn't in his room, for the door has remained wide open ever since discovering the note and, but most importantly, his three remaining sons had been sleeping in their big brother's room for the passed month. The bathroom's light isn't on and there are no sounds coming from inside, so Leo isn't in there. And there was no chance at all that he can be in the kitchen; unless it was to get water, or whenever he's being dragged to eat, the kitchen is the less likely place the eldest turtle would ever go.

Splinter grew a bit impatient and frustrated, wondering if his senses are playing tricks on him and preventing him from leaving his three remaining sons to look for his eldest child. He took a few moments to calm his raising mind and heart, then tried to feel out for Leonardo, even using his sense of smell, to find some sort of trail to help lead him to where the eldest turtle could've gone... Only to have both his Ninja Training, senses, even fatherly instincts telling him Leonardo is still inside the Lair.

"There's no where else he could be... And yet, I still sense he's still within the Lair. But where?" Closing his eyes to avoid certain distractions and taking a deep, cleansing breath, the humanoid-rat fell to his knees to kneel on the floor in order to use one of his techniques that allows him to sense the vibration through the floor, along with using another of his senses: Hearing. He may not be part bat or even part moth, both of which can hear many times more than most animals can, being part rat means he can create his own ultrasound, which means he'll be able to hear an incy-wincy spider coming down the drain pipe.

So far, all he could hear are the deep breathing of his three sons sleeping in their rooms, the sounds of rats running through the sewers, the tapping sound of leaking waters dripping from the pipe to the ground, a slow, deep breath exhaling from the Dojo-… Wait, what? Snapping his eyes and immediately getting up on his feet, Splinter locked eyes on the shōji, his heart pounding with anticipation that his eldest son, his eldest  _baby_ , is in the dojo and hasn't left. Without any second thoughts, he stormed his way towards the shōji and, not caring how uncivilized or unrepresentative he makes his announcement into his room, yanked the door wide open.

A harsh, heavy gasp escaped as the air was being robbed from his lungs, his legs trembling to keep himself up from falling to the floor and his reddish-brown eyes, widening in complete disbelief and possibly being tricked by his mind wanting to see what he wanted to see. Because there, kneeling before the shrine of his deceased wife and daughter, the picture that held all he has left of his past life, was the missing link to his present life: Hamato Leonardo, scarred and in poor health… And  _ **Awake!**_

Whether the unmasked turtle has sensed his Sensei's presence long before making his appearance in the Dojo with him, too lost in his thoughts to sending his prayers and respects to Tang Shen and Miwa or even chose to not make any sort of reaction to greet Splinter, nobody could be certain on what was going on inside Leo's head. But to the humanoid-rat, none of that really mattered. All that matters is that he has found his son, here in the Lair and still alive.

He took a step forward.

"M... Musuko?"

His tone was shaky and slightly over a whisper, but it appears that the ten year-old heard his voice. Leo's body slightly flinch, most likely startled from either his praying or meditation being interrupted by his father's voice. Then, much to Splinter's surprise, the turtle slowly turned his body until he's now kneeling in front of the humanoid-rat. His arm, leg and head still had the wrappings of gauze covering the wounds, and his body trembling from most likely being in a sitting position that may had agitated his injuries. His Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes made contact with Splinter's reddish-brown eyes, holding unreadable emotions or expression the humanoid-rat couldn't identify.

Before he could get a single word to leave his lips once more, Leonardo made a startling response: He lowered the top-half of his body, ignoring the possible agitation his wounds pulsed through his still-healing body, and bowed before Yoshi.

" **...Watashi o yurushite…**  Sensei…"

A trembling paw rose to his lips, containing a sob that nearly gave away the father's disbelief to his son's voice. He, his eldest child, forced himself to bow before his own father, wounded and damaged, asking for his forgiveness…? He couldn't bring himself to voice out an answer to Leonardo's request and, unable to hold back his calm-nature, Splinter pushed his body forward and wrapped his wrapped-arms around the child he feared would end up leaving him like his wife and daughter.

He pulled him up against his chest, slowly rocking them back and forth, burying his snout against the humanoid-turtle's forehead and planting kisses on the exposed skin that isn't covered by the bandages. A watery smile grew over Splinter's face, relishing the warmth of his eldest-son's body growing warmer and no where cold when he wasn't conscious.

"...You are safe, musuko," he whispered. "You are home..."

**End of Flashback...**

* * *

"Amazingly, in spite of having his shell and plastron scratched up, along with having to take a bit longer to heal than Raph did, neither his shell nor plastron didn't get cracked and both completely healed." Donatello described the situation to the girl. "He did gain a few permanent markings on his plastron and still has some of the scratches on his shell, but the markings completely faded and you can only know where they are if you're sitting next to him or even try to feel where they were implanted at."

April was amazed of the news.

"Wow... He must've been one, lucky turtle back then."

Don nodded his head.

"Yeah, he was, and still is." He stated. "The bite marks on his right-arm and the scratches on his left-leg were more serious than the condition of his shell and plastron. His right-arm broke from the second fight he had with the sewer gator and his left-leg was very infected, while the back of his head was, surprisingly, only a flesh wound and bruised up, which somehow avoided getting any sort of infection."

"Wait... If you didn't have any sort of medicine that would put him to sleep while treating his wounds and he didn't get a concussion, why did your brother slept for three days straight? You'd think he would wake up the next day."

"If you had to fight a two ton gator,  _twice_ , almost drowned and fall from an almost hundred foot waterfall that could kill a human, you'd be sleeping for days as well if you were in Leo's place, April." Raph answered, sounding a bit tired when it was clear he's still trying to get over what could've happened to his older-twin brother if he hadn't made it.

"...Good point." A chill of goosebumps trailed down her arms, even with the sleeves of her shirt keeping her warm from the cold sewer. "So, did you finally apologized to Leo, Raph?" She meant to say it in a teasing manner, and managed a slight-smirk to appear on his face.

"Course I did," he answered. "If I hadn't, Donny and Mikey would've never let it go on how much of a wuss I'm being at not apologizing, even when they know I'll kick their shells all over the sewer." At least he was being honest and acting like his old, hot-headed self again. That was a major relief for the teenager.

"If that's the case, I guess that means everything went back to normal." An awkward silence went through the room, once again making her worried and feeling completely stupid for thinking it was all over. "...And I'm guessing that it didn't go back to normal, did it?"

"Actually, for about two days, it had gone back to normal... Then, he went missing, again." Sky-blue eyes widen to Donatello's answer to her question. Before she asked for how long, as he expect her to, he quickly answered, "He didn't go missing for long, only about three days this time."

She looked very relieved, but am unsettling feeling ran in the atmosphere. She wasn't sure if she even wants to hear when they found him the second time, but couldn't help but ask.

"When you guys found him, did you learned why he just left?"

"I left, because of Spike." A voice, coming from the entrance of the Lair, startled the five mutants and April from their conversation and when they turned their attention to who answered her questioned, all eyes widen when they saw the return of their blue-masked turtle… Covered in bruises, cuts… And blood, covering part of his plastron and limbs. He appears to be holding something in his arms, but is shielding it with his left-arm. However, despite his disturbing appearance, he's able to move around without much difficulty.

"Leo!"

"Leonardo!"

Many got to their feet and nearly ran to him, when the blood-covered turtle raised his left-arm to stop them in their tracks.

"I'm fine," he grunted out. "Mostly scrapes and bruises, but none of them is from me."

Donnie, too concern of the blood covering his brother's body, went into his doctor mode and did a quick check over for any signs of blood seeping through cuts... Which, getting a closer look, found about five cuts on Leo's body that showed signs of blood escaping his body. One on each arm, two crossed over each other on his right-leg and the last one at the left-side of his neck.

He narrowed his eyes down on his eldest-brother.

"If that's the case, then why do i see blood escaping from five cuts on your body?" His question brought more fear and concern to the others wanting to circle him, Splinter already standing before him and also examining the wounds for himself. The direct contact wasn't too much of an issue but feeling their gazes roaming over his body, made him feel claustrophobic and his instincts telling him to get away for solitary space to treat his wounds on his own.

Thinking quickly before his instincts kick in and start snapping at them, Leo decides to allow himself to give in to his brother's unspoken request to check him over. He turned his head to stare at his brother, not wanting his sensei to look into his eyes to see his silent plot to avoid any more contact from the rest of the Hamato Clan and April.

"If it'll get you all to calm down and to stop crowding me like a flock of vultures, I'll go with you to treat my injuries, Donnie."

His choice of words clearly stunned everyone in the room, which appears to also made the mid-child turtle a bit more concern for his brother to give in to his silent plea to treat his wounds. But, because he's cooperating to ease their worry for him and not run off to keep his distance from them, Don is more than happy to take this opportunity to care his brother wellbeing by accepting his proposal to treat him.

"Sit on the couch, I'll get the medical kit from the lab." Leo's left-arm cringed slightly to his brother's orders, but didn't say anything and went for the couch as instructed, taking a seat on the same couch Michelangelo sat on but scooted up to the corner to leave space out for Donnie to have.

The moment Don left for his lab, Mikey was immediately at his side.

"What happened, Leo? Did you kick Foot's butt? Is Murakami-san alright? Was there any pizza involved?!" Of course, having a hyperactive brother to keep dropping questions on a subject and not give another turtle a chance to answer any of them, Leo knew exactly how to get Mikey to stop. Reaching underneath his right-arm, the blue-masked turtle slowly maneuvered his left-arm towards his chest and turned his shell to the others, before he turned his head to stare back at his baby brother.

"Before I get a chance to answer your questions… I got something you're going to love, Mikey."

When he raised his right-arm from his left and held up an item in front of his brother's face, Mikey's eyes went all white and flashed with sparks when he saw what he believes to being the greatest treasure he ever seen. Wrapped inside a large, plastic bag, is food that the turtles forever will see as their greatest meal ever, made by Mr. Murakami, himself: Pizza gyoza. All eyes stared in wonder at the food Leo presented before them, then back at the blue-masked turtle, who simply smiled tiredly at his brother and gently handed him the cold meal.

"Murakami-san sends his thanks, his gratitude and willing to keep our existence a secret."

April gasped at his words.

"He's alright?!" She asked, a smile playing on her face and the joy grew when a reassuring smile from the leader returned to her.

"Only bruised a bit, but is doing well, especially for somebody who nearly fell to his death by behind tied to a plank wood over a rooftop." After he answered her, Michelangelo sprang himself on his big brother, forcing a yelp of surprise from the strangling hug he's getting by his baby brother.

"You're the best, bro!" Raphael, who stayed in his spot to silently give some space to his brother until he gives some sign of permission that he won't be angry, got out of his spot and firmly pulled Mikey off of Leo.

"Ease off, Mikey. You heard what Don said. Leo's injured, which means we can't be too rough with him to avoid further hurting him." Listening to his brother, Mikey removed himself off of Leo, a sincere sad look on his face showing his apology and forgetfulness.

As always, Leonardo came up with an idea to cheer him up.

"How about heating those pizza gyoza for dinner, Mikey?" His suggestion truly stunned everyone; never, not once, did Leo ever request for food. The blue-masked turtle pushed aside the insecurity of stares upon him. "We hadn't had a decent meal for a good while and, if memory serves me right, Master Splinter didn't have the chance to try any like the rest of us did when Murakami-san first made it."

Getting what he's saying and what he's doing, Mikey was more than happy to take his precious food to the kitchen and heat them up for all to enjoy. April smiled down at Leo for attempting to lighten things up with the suggestion of food, though her stomach growled in discomfort from the thought of having pizza potstickers. Around that time, Donatello came back to the living room, the medical kit in hand, and took his spot beside his big brother.

"I need you to be as still as you can, Leo. Some of the cuts appear pretty deep and I have to stitch them up, but they'll probably recover after a day or two of rest." The purple-masked turtle turned to his 'secret' crush. "April, can you go get a washcloth and a bowl of water?"

Though not doubting his intelligent son's observation and examining, Splinter came before eldest-son and took a look at the injuries, himself.

"While Michelangelo's preparing dinner, Leonardo, would you please explain your meaning of Murakami-san keeping our existence a secret?"

* * *

Throughout the rest of the night, Donatello and Master Splinter helped treated Leonardo's wounds and stitched up three of the five cuts that needed to be sewn, which are the cuts on his arms and neck. April also helped with the treatment by getting ice for the bruises and, under the watchful eyes of Don, her sensei and Leo, wrapped the cuts in fresh gauze and washed the blood off his limbs and plastron. Raph, feeling awkward at sitting on the sideline, went to go check on the meal, which he's able save a certain amount of pizza gyoza when catching Mikey attempting to help himself a good portion of the meal.

While being treated and when they gotten their saved food by Raph, Leonardo told them how the battle against the Foot went.

* * *

 **Flashback…  
** Anger coursed through his anger when his sense of smell helped him locate Murakami being held captive, on top of the Fortune Cookie Factory, where a water tower at the highest part of the roof. Surrounding the building, about twenty Foot ninjas, ready to strike if they see any signs of the turtles. Standing on the plank that held the blind man, Xever got out one of his butterfly knives and had the blade up against the rope. Bradford, though on the opposing side, argued with the street rat to wait a while longer and to not send the blind man to his grave sooner than they gave the turtles to find them.

Leo had tracked down their scent from Murakami's shop and has remained in the shadows for over fifteen minutes to try and come up with a plan on how to get the poor civilian out of harms way. He thought about creating a diversion to take down a portion of the Foot to fight off less, but had a feeling Xever would figure out his plan and would most likely kill Murakami. Getting help from some of the animals in the surrounding area could also be useful, but he isn't willing to put the lives of innocent creatures on the line, just to try and avoid a battle which will surely backfire and, once again, kill Murakami. He truly has no choice but to face them, head on.

_ This would be a lot easier, if you let the others come and assist you in battle. You know you can't take them all on by yourself and with Murakami held hostage, they'll have the upper-hand to force you to surrender. _

_'You think I don't know that?'_  He thought back to his conscious.  _'I can't make them follow me into battle, not while they're injured from their idiotic attempt to get back at the Purple Dragons. Besides, the only who's more capable to be here is Michelangelo, and he isn't one who can handle pressure very well… Not to mention, I'd have to remind him of the plan three to seven times before going into battle.'_

_**Pup correct. Pack-mates injuries will hinder them if brought to battle a third time, with no time for rest or treatment to wounds. Omega-Brother Michelangelo may provide support, but, as Pup stated, has trouble paying attention and stress will trigger panic. Besides, Xever and Bradford will get to Kins with taunts and tricks.** _

Something that his instincts just said, caught Leo's attention.

 _'"Tricks"...'_ He doesn't have much up his sleeves, but if he played his cards right and, if his hunch is correct, there's a chance he get the battle away from Murakami. An immediate attack is too risky and waiting for the right moment to catch the blinde man would still involve him as a hostage used against him. ' _Which means, my only option... Is to come out peacefully and see what move they'll make on me. Then, whatever happens, I'll make my move.'_

"l know you're out there, Turtles!" Xever called out, looking out at the other buildings in front of him as the blade slowly dug into the rope. "Come out, or have the old man fall to his death!"

"Xever! We don't execute our hostage!" Bradford yelled. He may have been taught about honor, even sticking to his own honor to never harm the innocent, he's still been trained by Shredder and, no doubt, taught him to take the lives of innocence when they stand in their way or has any ties to the enemy.

"You may not be willing to do what's necessary, but this is how it gets done by my way. Master would approve of this, since the old man made himself a friend to the mutant freaks." Another slice has been added to the rope, and Leo knew he can't delay any longer.

Swiftly, like the wind itself, he jumped across to the building next to the factory, slammed his hands against the back of the head of three Foot ninjas to knock them out, scaled up the wall and now stood beside the water tower, startling the Purple Dragon leader when Leo appeared before him and gave away his location by yelping. The fifteen year-old has no time to deal with him and let him scurry away in fear, glaring down at his two opponents when they took notice his presence.

Xever smiled a smirk.

"You finally arrived,  ** _Turtaruga_**." The Brazilian street rat pulled away from Murakami and once again stood beside Bradford, twirling his butterfly knife in his hand. "I was getting bored on having to wait, that I was considering ridding the old man."

Leo quickly looked to the blind man, seeing the rope will only hold for a little while before it starts giving way from the human's weight overpowering the damage part of it's structure, before staring back at Xever and Bradford.

"So,  ** _amigo_** , where are the rest of you freaks?" Xever questioned, looked just about ready to start fighting and skewing his opponent. "Our master grows tired of you four meddling in his business, and has given the order to eliminate you all."

Bradford remained silent, ready to strike the moment the fight begins. Leo, meanwhile, decide to play along before starting the battle.

"The knowledge of my team's whereabouts is none of your concern, and you'd just finish your task if I just gave away their location so easily and not get the chance to exact your own satisfaction on finishing us off in your own way." He glanced over to Bradford. "Besides, honor dictates both party must fight to the bitter end and if Shredder hears that one of his enemies didn't put much of a fight before their death, it wouldn't be as satisfying than learn how much suffering his own men inflicted."

Xever thought about it for a moment, while Bradford already knew what he's doing but wasn't going to lose the chance to take him down, especially when they outnumbered him and is here without any backup.

"...Well, I can't say that I agree with your logic of 'honor', but I will admit to agreeing to get my own satisfaction to killing you  **a** **berrações** _my_  way."

The time for talking is done, and Xever made the first move to attack. Leo chose to avoid the two, and to focus his attention on taking down the Foot ninjas before facing Xever and Bradford. However, he knows that the longer he fights, the rope will break and there's a chance he won't be able to save Murakami on time. However, right now, he can't let that fear and thought come to mind. At this moment, he has to focus on his multiple opponents before he can even save Murakami from falling.

With Musashi and Kamiizumi at his service, they helped him block other bladed weapons from scratching or stabbing him, stunning when jabbing some of the Foot with the hilt… But most of all, in order to prevent some from returning to the battle, they succeed on inflicting serious injuries and spilling blood, a warning and a sign to others how serious he is in battle.

Including the first three he knocked out, six Foot ninjas went unconscious and another five received serious damage from the twin blades that left them unable to keep fighting. During the fight, Leo crossed path with the Purple Dragon leader when the human tried to lay an attack with the rest of the Foot and while making an attempt to wound him from behind would give him reason to not let him go without injury, the fifteen year-old chose to leave him in order to dodge a bunch of kunai knives Xever tossed towards him. He actually expected him and Bradford to come after him, even as he avoids them and focused on taking down the Foot ninjas.

Even while using his speed to dodge and rush the enemy, enhanced strength to overpower the humans, using his sense of hearing and smell to track down enemies coming up from behind or in the shadows, even able to sense the vibration through the ground from his feet, Leo started to feel the strain in his body the longer the fight went on. Not only that, but his ears told him the rope is giving more away and time is running out for Murakami the longer the battle continued.

"Ha!" Bradford landed a powerful punch to the plastron that sent the blue-masked turtle ramming his shell against the wall, while forcing himself to flip off to the side to avoid a Foot ninja's strike to his neck and ended up with a cut on his right-leg. Another two charged from behind and Leo only had enough time to kick them both off the roof, before Xever slide his foot underneath both of Leo's arms and kicked him in the same area Bradford landed his punch in the midsection to his stomach to force him against the wall, again.

"You give up yet, Animal?" He didn't wait for an answer, and signaled two ninjas to make their mark. Leo felt the two make their way and forced his legs to swing high to his left-side, positioning his arms behind his shell and pushed himself off the ground and into the air.

He knew his timing won't allow him avoid injuries from the ninjas' blades, and ended up with two cuts digging into both his arms. Still, better his arms getting cut than having his head sliced off. He blocked more of Xever's kunai knives he expected to happen, with one crossed glazed over the first cut on his right-leg and a second slicing the left-side of his throat, but once again got punched by Bradford and his back hit one of the wooden beam that held the water tower. His hands released their grip on Musashi and Kamiizumi and both blades landed in opposite direction from each other and their user, Musashi barely hanging on the ledge of the factory and Kamiizumi a few feet away from the Purple Dragon leader.

Leo hit the ground on his plastron and remained on the ground, struggling to catch his breath, while Xever and Bradford stood over him.

"You see? That's how you catch a turtle." Xever told his reluctant companion, twirling one of his butterfly knives in his left-hand. "And now, I'm going to show you how to filet one."

"You couldn't had caught him, if it wasn't for  _my_  help!" Bradford argued, getting tired of the Brazilian telling him off and acting all mighty, because Shredder ordered him to follow his lead.

"Yes, you were of great help, by using my tactic aim as distraction to better hit a cornered animal." Their attention is now focused on each other, strong over who did most of the work and who should deserve the credit.

Leo can hear the rope nearing to it's breaking point to snap, but can't get to Murakami when surrounded by his enemies. Not only that, both his swords are out of reach and he can't sustain any more injuries to his arms if he fights with no weapon to use... Although, when his shell collided with the water tower, he felt how full it is and how it pulled back a bit from the impact. He can use the water tower to, literally, wash his opponents away and make a grab for the blind man. But, again, his swords are too far from reach and soon, the two will other kill him, wound him with fatal injuries... Or even, take him to Shredder, himself.

_*Shnk!*_

Leo looked up, not believing his eyes for even a second when he sees Musashi before him and when he saw where he presume his blade came from, there stood the very human he spared and showed mercy he dubbed as 'Curl-Tail': The Purple Dragon leader, himself. And he's standing on the higher part of the roof, turned his gaze away from Leo and merely folded his arms over his chest, as if he saw nothing and didn't do anything at all.

None of the Foot ninjas saw what happened, and neither Xever or Bradford took notice of the betrayal the Purple Dragon just did for aiding their enemy. Leo's mind shifted into overdrive, grabbing for Musashi, launched himself to the upper-level of the roof and swiftly landing a powerful strike at the wooden legs of the water tower.

Gravity pulled the water tower forward and when it hit, water instantly gushed out and those in the water's path have been washed away. Leo didn't bother waiting for the water to past, because the rope finally gave way and barely caught Murakami on time... By grabbing the rope, wrapped around the blind man, with his own  _fangs_ and gently hauled him back onto the roof when the water finally died down.

As Leo bit part of the rope to release Murakami and check him over for injuries, he saw the Purple Dragon already make his escape and has jumped to another building's rooftop. Before fleeing for the ladder, the human made eye-contact with the blue-masked turtle. They flashed of fear... And gratitude for sparing him, even worry for his own safety.

Leo slightly nodded his head at him, and the human took his leave. There's no doubt in his mind they'll cross paths, let alone any possibility he'll turn over a new leaf and stop being a villain. But his actions, alone, told Leo that isn't completely bad as he thought to be... Perhaps, someday, he'll see the wrong doing of his decision and eventually give up a life of crime... Yeah, someday it  _could_ happen... But, not today, and maybe even not tomorrow...  _Someday._

His hearing caught the sound of sirens coming their way, the cops most likely to investigate the cause for the water tower to fall.

"Turtle-san?"

Murakami's voice pulled the leader room his thoughts, stunning to be referred to as turtle when he couldn't see what he looks like. He didn't have time to answer his silent question. Instead, he gently urged him to get on his back and, after making sure he has a firm grip on the man's legs and his arms around his own throat will keep him on his back, the turtle took off into a swift sprint away from the Fortune Cookie Factory before the police even parked next to the curb of the building.  
 **End of Flashback…**

* * *

"After I took him back to his shop, helped clean up the place, he made us a batch of pizza gyoza to show his appreciation. Also, he already knew we were turtles from the start." Around him, everyone had their portion of the meal, while Mikey had tried to have a few extra helpings to himself and Donnie saved his second helping after he finally gotten April to try them. They all looked surprised to his claim, wondering how he could've figured it out. Apparently, Leo already figured that one out. "He has other senses, you know. Touch. - _He turned his gaze over to Mikey-_   **Smell…** " The others stared at Mikey's direction, who then realized that his delay of bathing is catching up to him and embarrassed his scent gave them away.

"And, he's okay with us being non-humans?" Donnie questioned. Leo simply shrugged.

"I asked him something similar, though I ask on how he doesn't think we're weird or scary." Leo answered, simply staring down at his smaller portion of the meal in the small-bowl in his left-hand. "We saved him, and even asked who was he to complain. Besides, because he's blind, it doesn't really matter if we're humans or not. To him, we're normal people in his own point of view and that's good enough reason for him to welcome us as his 'special customers'."

The three younger-brothers smiled in relief and joy to their big brother's words, while April only stared at him in wonder. The way he explained his battle with Xever and Bradford, there was no glorified joy in his tone and didn't show much expression or emotion. He also made sure he made himself as small as he could on the couch and took up little spacing on the furniture, but kept his right-arm on the corner after Donnie stitched up the cut. However, what caught her attention the most, was his answer to her question when he came back.

"...Hey, Leo?" She couldn't help but ask, "What you said earlier, what did you mean you left because of Spike?"

A flash of exhaustion reflected off his Cerulean/Sapphire eyes and signs of anger can be read on his face. She instantly regretted asking him, but saw the anger isn't towards her.

"I don't have to guess that they've told you of a certain event we  _swore_ to never bring up." His brothers and sensei held flashes of guilt in their eyes, which has responded by glaring at them the hurt and disapproval he has for them. He then let out a tiring sigh. "While out on my own in the sewers, I found an egg floating down the water towards the exit of the ocean. It was cold to the touch, but I couldn't just left it alone without giving it a chance to hatch."

She quickly realized what he's saying.

"...That egg... Was Spike?" Leo nodded his head.

"For weeks, I gathered certain items to form a makeshift nest and keeping the egg warm as much as possible. When my mind cleared from recovering, I remembered the egg and didn't bother to tell anybody about it when I ran to check on it... Which finished hatching by the time I got there, because of my injuries."

April smiled of imagining a baby-version of Spike, squealing and crawling out of his egg.

"However  _-the happy thought vanished from the word-_ Spike was born very ill, and most likely suffering from the cold while I was unconscious from my fight with White Death. I tried getting him to eat, finding clean water and even keeping him warm for three days, but he wasn't getting any better. When he seemed to have gotten worse, I knew he needed to go to a vet and get proper help from the humans."

Raph glared at his brother.

"You should've came home, instead of thinking about going to the surface world." He growled out, but this time is in more control of his anger to not lash out again. Splinter gave his second son a warning glare, and thumped his tail to catch his attention for the message to get through.

Leo glared back at him, pushing the slight embarrassment that he should've done five years ago but didn't think it through because of his fever clouding his mind back then. He's also angered that they still don't trust him to go out on his own, all because they found him heading up the manhole cover on that very day and made a conclusion of their own before they learned of Spike.

"You all made the assumption, on your own, that I was-"

**_*Peep!* *Peep!"_ **

A high-pitch sound caught everyone's attention, coming from Leo's right-arm he tried shielding from the others. This time, a slight blush did covered his cheeks.

 _'Knew I should've went for my bedroom first,'_ he scolded himself.

_They would've heard your door opening if you did, then they would assume you're trying to avoid them and are still angry at them._

**_Besides, Little One would still give away Pup and self in unfamiliar environment if Pup left her alone._ **

"Leo? What do you have under your arm?" Donatello gently asked, as he and the others came closer to see what was it that still letting out 'peeping' sounds.

_They would've found out, sooner or later, what you brought home._

Leo silently agreed to his conscious.

"...Before I came home, I had a little run in with the Kraang."

He decided to come right out with it and reveal the truth of being delayed while returning to the Lair, as he slowly brought up a small nest onto his lap... Inside the nest, a small black-bird sat in the center, chirping away and looking at Leo to feed it while lifting it's small-beak in the air.

The clan and April could only stare down at the baby bird, before staring right back at the blue-masked turtle, all silently asking him of his intention with the bird.

"She's orphaned, and they tried to take her away." He gaze into his father's concerned eyes and, for the first time in many years, silently  _begged_  for his permission. "If the Kraang wants her for something, she'll need a safe place to be raised in until she's old enough to fly."

**TBC**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *: I made it perfectly clear in the summary: THERE WILL BE NO, AND I MEAN NO, T-CEST/SLASH MOMENTS IN THE STORY (or any story I write)! Also, to me, I can see Leonardo and Raphael being twins, at least non-identical twins. With the turtles being born as quadruplets, there's a possibility Leo and Raph could actually be twins.
> 
> *: Explanation on how they became humanoid-turtles/Splinter's biological sons, will be better explained in a future chapter when they (we, as well) learn more about the Mutagen (probably somewhere in the "Wormquake!" episode/chapter).
> 
> Yes, people, Leo is going to have a pet of his own. However, he prefers the term 'companion' instead of pet. Also, because his brothers have animal companions of their own on the show, Leo should have one of his own.
> 
> I know Splinter seemed a bit OOC, but in my honesty, I actually expect Splinter to have a traumatizing fear of losing his sons after losing his family in Japan. I mean, his clan was under attacked and/or killed, he watched his wife die before his eyes, lost his daughter (not knowing Oroku Saki took her away) and narrowly escaped the fire and the Shredder with his life. So, surely, he would've had severe PTSD (though, in a photo of him and Saki together, it looked like they were in the army, which could mean that he may had already have PTSD but had worsen when he lost everything) and perhaps nervous breakdowns before getting the boys. And while raising his sons, they became his rock, his main and maybe only reason, to continue on living. And if losing even just one of his sons who he raised ever since the boys were infants, that could damage him even further and could probably be almost impossible for him to ever recover.
> 
> And if there's anything else to add: I hate driving… And my work is literally trying to kill me; working as a Courtesy Clerk isn't as easy as it may look. The only plus side, I get my exercise.
> 
> R&R


	10. Declaration of War

**April Twenty-Six, 2012...  
** _It's been three days since my first battle with the Foot Clan had passed, without my brothers to assist me. The cuts I received completely healed up yesterday, though the injuries I sustained didn't bother me than learning my family telling a certain event to never speak of, again... I can't believe they decided to tell April, behind my back, of my near death experience five years ago. I figured she'd be wondering of my meaning to what I said to Raphael, but that doesn't give them the rights to go back on a sworn oath to never bring it up. I may have returned to the Lair when Splinter told of my miraculous recovery, but I knew they spoke of my encounter with White Death and how I nearly died protecting Raphael._

_It's obvious that they trust her to know some dark secrets we have from the past, but that event is mine to decide if she can hear of it or not... Well, at least it kept them from leaving the Lair and disobeying my order to stay out of the battle to save Murakami-san._

_...Murakami-san... Blind Elder, as my instincts have dubbed him. He not only kept our existence a secret and doesn't care if we were humans or mutated-animals… He also figured out of me being part-wolf and is even keeping my own secret from even April and my brothers._ _I didn't tell them the whole story of being with Murakami-san, including of the part where he called me Wolf-san before I left the shop. Seems even while blind, he can also sense another person's aura and their personality, and had told me how my loyalty of a wolf may someday backfire if I keep distancing myself from those who cares about me_ _… I know he's trying to help, but he doesn't understand why I can't get too close to them, let alone reveal the secret on how I'm no longer their full-blooded brother and mixed with wolf-DNA from the mutagen fifteen years ago._

_I'm honestly surprised that they never thought the mutagen could be the results of my difference, after learning a bit more about the Kraang and that **they**  were the ones who created the mutagen._

_I mean, yeah, my teeth are more fangs than theirs. But then, Master Splinter's own teeth have been enhanced and combined with rats strong teeth, and my brothers' teeth are also stronger than humans and have a few teeth that could pass for fangs to avoid suspicious. I can also see very well in the dark than they could and swim faster, but again, because of our turtle-DNA, they can still see in the dark and, surprisingly, the mutagen enhanced Sensei's vision instead of giving him the downfalls of being a humanoid-rat._

_This whole entire time, I've been living a lie by pretending to being like them… The reasons I keep my distance, it's not just to get too close when they'll turn their backs on me: It's my way of being who I am. And yet, no matter how many times I put space upon me and the others or even want time to myself, they always intervene and drag me to do what they want to do. I may have high tolerance level to endure their choice of activities but since traveling up to the surface, it's literally taking everything I had to not snap or run off to somewhere else that'll make me feel calm and/or at peace._

_And speaking of running off… I can tell my brothers and Sensei were surprised that I actually came home, after rescuing Murakami-san and taking on the Foot on my own. Did they actually think I would try to leave them after going into a battle, on my own, and taking down two of Shredder's right-hand men, by myself, when we struggle to do so as a team? Whatever they're thinking, perhaps this will be more than enough to get them to start trying to trust me to be on my own and to not have to shadow me, twenty-four/seven._

_Although, I'll probably be a bit more occupied at the moment, on the count of having to be on 'bird raising' for a good while to our temporary house-guest: Karasu. That little bird I saved from six Kraang, I was able to locate her parents and, surprisingly, found out that her father's a raven and her mother's a crow. Meaning, Karasu is a raven/crow hybrid, which the name is very fitting for it means both 'Raven' and 'Crow' in Japanese. Unfortunately, Kraang handled them none too gently when they fought them to protect their barely hatched youngling and injured them to die a slow, painful death, before I stepped in and killed them. Before they died, they asked me, basically begged me, to raise her and help her grow up to become a strong flyer to avoid the Kraang._

_She knows I'm not her father, but right when death embraced them, her mother and father told her to listen to her 'big brother'. And since then, she has called me "Big Brother". In some terms, Ravens and Wolves are known to help each other for survival by locating prey and even share similar lifestyles that makes them a great team. So, in this case, Karasu is now practically my sister._

_My brothers, however, views her as a 'pet', even when Splinter gave me permission to raise Karasu until she can fly to take care of herself. Mikey wanted to name her but, because I'm going to be responsible for her, it was only fair that I be the one to give her a name. Donnie tried to identify her origin to find out how old she is and what kind of bird she is, but decided to wait until her feathers grow in and molts some to analyze them with his machine. Raph was very much okay with me caring for Karasu, and has even suggest to introduce her to Spike when she starts getting bigger._

_April, meanwhile, kept gushing over Karasu and has asked multiple times to try and feed her worms, which Don allowed me to get from the pool in his lab. I allowed her, of course, but stayed to make sure Karasu doesn't choke on her meals or gets scared when left alone with anybody but me and Master Splinter... It's kinda weird, interacting with April. I honestly thought she wouldn't want to be around me, after my outburst with her about the incident with the Purple Dragon, and the Foot kidnapping Murakami-san. Instead, she acts like it never happened and continues to make an attempt to bond with me._ _Hell, the next day after rescuing Murakami-san, she personally asked me to help with her training to become a Kunoichi. Apparently, Donnie offered to train with her on the same day Sensei decided to train her to become one, using his annoying graph chart on how to win her over, and it turns out she declined his offer… Now I know why that chart isn't in the lab anymore and was burnt outside of the Lair, let alone how distraught he was when she left the Lair._

_I didn't really want to, but my Conscience talked me into improving her skills and prepare her to better protect herself when up on the Surface World... I accepted, but only to help her with the Katas that proves to be difficult for her to master and when we're alone. The lessons will have to be short as well, since I need to focus on raising Karasu._

_Don will surely be heartbroken, may interrupt our lessons and try to offer assistance in them, even get angry at me for helping the girl he has a crush on and it's not him spending time with her. Well, he and the others went behind my back to go after the Purple Dragon and then broke a promise to never bring up the past that nearly cost me my life, so perhaps he'll know how I felt when he chose to make decision that would hurt them and me... I'm not certain how long it'll be before I can trust them, once again, to listen when they have to on missions, but until then, they'll have to prove their devotion to the team Master Splinter entrusted me to lead._

_...And it needs to be soon, because something's going to happen... Lately, my dreams have been haunting me of a being, enhanced in metals and spike-like blades, standing over the fallen form of humans… Many baring the mark of the Hamato Clan, while some even carry the Foot Clan marking and the rest a bunch of random people who most likely didn't have any involvement with this person of metal and blades… No doubt, it was Shredder._

**_"_ Anata no tame ni shi ga kuru **(Death will come for you) **,"** _he swore to me. My nose picked up the scent of blood… And death. His armor's covered in blood, pouring off his suit like a river flowing off a mountain. His face, covered by a **Kuro Kabuto** , glared down hatred towards me, but also satisfaction to the discomfort he sees flashed in my eyes from staring at the blood covering his body._

_I can feel the chill of death creeping behind my shell, traveling down my spine and clenching into my heart. I know that I'm afraid, but I'll use that fear to go against the Shredder, even if it costs me my own life to protect my teammates, my **pack**._

* * *

**_*Peep, peep!* *Peep!* "Big Brother! Hungry, Big Brother!"_ **

Leo finished writing his journal and, tucking it underneath his pillow, turned his attention on Karasu, whose nest sat on top of the small-dresser next to his bed. He smiled down at the little Raven/Crow hybrid, gently nuzzling the few days old baby-bird with his own beak, before going to his dresser across from his bed, where a small-bowl of algeas and worms sat on top of the wooden furniture.

His stomach feels revolted on having to put the worms back into his mouth, even when he isn't the one going to be eating them, but pushed the thought behind and focused on chewing the worms into mush until it's smooth enough for the bird to swallow. When he stood over her head, Karasu was more than ready to receive her meal when she can smell food was coming.

_**"Food! Food! Food!"** _

He lowered his beak to hers and, only opening his month just enough for her own mouth to get in, Karasu buried her beak in the small-gap of his mouth and devoured as much of the mushed up worms she can eat. Leo estimated, because of her small-size, he has to chew up two worms per each feeding every two to three hours, until her appetite improves and shows signs of growing. If she shows improvement before a week has passed, he'll add in another worm and in the second week, will get her to eat the worms without having to chew them for her.

In minutes, the worms in his mouth are gone and Karasu's completely full.

 _ **"Me full! Thank you, Big Brother! Thank you!"**_ She chirped with gratitude, nuzzling her beak against Leo's, before settling down into the feathers surrounding the inside of her nest and instantly went to sleep.

Yep, this job is going to be hard: With training, leading the team above the surface world, caring for his Clan and now the lack of proper meals and sleep to take care of Karasu, it definitely would drain anybody to collapsing. However, Leo swore to her parents that he'll raise her into a great bird. Besides, he enjoys her company and loves her with all his heart as any older-brother would with their siblings and/or any other family member.

Before he thought about doing another sketch, a thick, purple-smoke clouded his room... Standing in the middle, is his baby-brother.

"Hey, Leo, you're not gonna believe what Donnie just made!" The volume of his voice startled Karasu from her sleep and, in fear an intruder has come for her like the Kraang did, let out distress cry.

_**"Big Brother! Big Brother! Threat! Help!"** _

In response, Leo glared at his brother. A low rumble left his chest and, right when Mikey realized his mistake, the blue-masked turtle sprang on his brother. His door opened wide when they both tumbled out from the room, with Leo on top of Mikey, who shielded the bowl of eggs from slipping out from his grasp. Despite being lighter, the oldest-brother kept the youngest turtle from escaping his grasp and being pinned down.

"What did I just say about entering my room, without permission?!" Leo's yell attracted the other two turtles out from the dojo and, seeing the fear their baby brother is from angering their big brother, Raph and Don pulled the two apart.

"Leo, calm down." Gently ordered, as he helped Mikey back on his feet and made sure none of his smoke bombs were damaged. "I forgot to inform Mikey that I used the eggs to make our own ninjas smoke bombs, that I wasn't able to prevent him from unintentionally setting one off before he learnt what I did."

"Which is still awesome, D."

Being held back by Raph, Leo kept glaring at his two, youngest brothers: Don, for putting one of his invention in the kitchen where any of them would easily have easy access to and could've gotten hurt, and Mikey for trespassing into his bedroom and disturbing Karasu's sleep.

"And the reason you couldn't leave them in your lab, or to at least put them in your own bedroom, before you plan on presenting the smoke bombs to us?" Don sweat drop, letting out a nervous laugh the longer his big brother glares at him.

"Well, uh, the fridge is the only place with the right temperature to help the wax harden at the holes I drilled in and for the powder to thicken when exposed outside of the shell... Also, my fridge in the lab is completely full with my other experiments."

Obviously, Leo didn't approve his excuse for being so careless with his experiments that their youngest brother would have easy access to use them and would very much pin the two turtles to the ground, or even drag them into the dojo and force them into  _ **Judo**_  lessons.

_ Don't be too hard on them; Mikey tends to forget when he gets too excited, and Donnie makes sure to keep dangerous experiments inside his lab. It doesn't look like it's harming them when the smoke releases and can very well help improve your guys' ninja training by disappearing for a tactical retreat. _

As always, his Conscience will do whatever it takes to prevent him from punishing his own brothers, even when they deserved some form of punishment that ends up hurting themselves and/or each other… Unfortunately, for him, he has to let them off with a warning.

Forcing his body to relax, Raph took that as a sign to release Leo from his grip. He kept his glare on the two, making sure they know he's being serious and to not take his kindness as a joke.

"Next time, make sure to hide them from Mikey and to separate them from actual items we would use… We'll also go down to the dump to find you a bigger fridge to use in your lab, so we don't have another repeat in the future." Donnie frantically nodded his head, silently thanking God for not having Leo bring down his wrath unto him. "And as for you  _-Mikey whimpered in fear, trying to completely fade behind Don's shell-_ Go into my room again and I'll do the same to yours, but will also hide your newest edition of Stainless Steel comic for a week."

The warning threat proved to bring fear to Michelangelo's heart, as panic flashed in his eyes and immediately nodded his head. Seeing his warning has gotten through and that both are going to be sure to not cross him, Leo finally let his exhaustion calm him down to stop glaring and to turn his attention on reassuring Karasu that everything's fine. Just before he could take a step to his bedroom…

"Guys! Guys! You'll never believe what happened to me!" The sound of fear stunned the four turtles when they heard April coming their way, completely terrified and possibly in shock. The three younger brothers went to calm down the sixteen year-old girl, while Leo took his moment to catch his breath and banged his head against the wall.

_'…I can't catch a break, can I?'_

**_She-Pup needs Pup comfort, companionship, assistance from whatever even that occurred._ **

_ As leader and a friend, whether you accept April into the Clan or not, you must be aware of your teammates own self-being and make sure they're safe from any harm. _

***Peep, peep* _"Big Brother, where are you? What's going on?"_** Karasu's fearful voice brought Leo back to reality, reminding him he has two females to comfort instead of one… He has an idea: He went to his bedroom, gently gathered the nest in his arms, and brought Karasu with him to the living room, where his brothers and April sat on the couch as she catches her breath.

"All right, April, calm down. Are you okay?" Don questioned, putting himself in front of her at a reassuring manner… Again, making contact with her and trying to show his caring side to her. Leo pushed the thought behind and took his spot to her left, Karasu being distracted from her own fear to focusing on why the red-hair human is so scared of.

"I am being hunted… By a giant pigeon!"

Nobody said anything for a moment, until…

"Ah, ha-ha-ha-ha!" Raph laughed, pointing a finger at April while clutching his plastron with the other-hand. Everybody glared at the red-masked turtle, even Karasu didn't find it very funny at all and if she wasn't a baby-bird, she'd smack him in the face with her wing and peck him on top of the head until he apologizes. He took notice none of his brothers were laughing, feeling a bit awkward. "I can't be the only one finds that funny."

"It's not funny, Raph." Don argued, getting up to his feet to face his older-brother. "There's a creature out there trying to hurt my April." From the slip of the tongue, he accidentally revealed his feelings for the girl. She gave him a glance, as if saying: ' _Your April'?_. Don quickly tried to correct himself. " _Our_  April…" Yep, not being convincing to the others. "April."

"This is serious. I'd better get Splinter." Mikey stated, getting out another egg from the bowl in his hand. Even if it was just one, Leo is already annoyed by his brother using up the smoke bombs so carelessly.

"We don't really need-" Leo's sentence was cut off the moment his brother tossed the bomb to the ground, purple-smoke surrounding him, and now in his spot stood Master Splinter.

"Michelangelo said you wanted to see me?"

In minutes, April told the Hamato Clan of her ordeal from the 'giant pigeon', all the while trying to stay calm and gently petting Karasu, which Leo gently placed the nest in her lap and staying beside her as she told them what happened.

"His talons were razor sharp. He would've torn me to pieces, if he hadn't slammed into the glass." It may sound like she's exaggerating, but the fear in her sky-blue eyes said otherwise… Which means, that giant pigeon is most likely a mutant.

"Ha-hah-ha, ah…" Again, Raph found the situation hilarious and couldn't help but laugh, reading a magazine while she told them her story. And again, the others, now including Master Splinter, glared at him. "Really? Just me?"

_*Thwak!*_

The end of Splinter's cane made contact with the back of his head.

"Raphael!" Raph turned his attention to his father above him, rubbing the back of his head. "Clearly, April is upset."

"Yeah, dude, that's so insensitive." Mikey butted in, but clearly pointing out how disrespectful Raph is being to April's feelings. "Do you need a tissue?" Leo glared at Mikey, knowing he's using another excuse to use another smoke bomb.

"I think I'm okay." She answered, turning back to Karasu and feeling better with the small raven/crow hybrid and Leo beside her.

"I'll get you a tissue." He tossed down an egg and the purple-smoke engulfed him, vanishing from his spot in mere seconds, until the same smoke came to the other side of the girl and Leo, Mikey reappearing once again. "We don't have any tissues. Can I make you some soup?"

This time, Donnie snatched the egg from Mikey's hand.

"Stop it," he firmly, but gently told his brother. With the egg safely in his own grasp, Donnie turned back to April. "Don't worry, April, we won't let anything happen to you."

"Donnie's right." Leo agreed, getting to his feet. His brothers, and even himself, was stunned he just agreed to assure her safety but didn't have time to go back on his word and continued his sentence. "We're gonna set a trap to capture the pigeon, and make sure he doesn't bother you."  _'Okay, seriously, what's going on? When did I start actually… Caring for her? **Why**  am I so concern for her?'_

_It's obvious, Leo: You **do**  care about her. Which means, she's part of your  **Pack**!_

**_Not yet, She-Pup isn't. She-Pup April may earn rights to be part of team, as a trainee Kunoichi, and in terms, under the protection of Pup… However, She-Pup still must earn Pup's trust, before she fully embraced as sister._ **

"Well, I know what we can use as bait." Leo didn't have to guess what Don has in plan for bait, but unfortunately, it's the only bait that most likely attracts the pigeon's attention.

"Bread crumbs!" Mikey exclaimed, earning a glare from the second youngest-turtle. "Pigeon's eat bread crumbs."

"I meant April."

In seconds, Mikey stood overprotective of the redhead human.

"You're gonna let him eat April?! I thought you liked her!"

"Yeah!" April agreed, though more about questioning of Don using her as bait and not about him liking her. And to have her be left out in a open to draw the pigeon out, didn't sound that great at all.

"Don't sweat it. We got your back." His reassurance didn't sit so well for the girl, and Leo for that matter.

_I actually like Mikey's idea with the bread crumbs._

_'Yeah, but from how she describes him being big, we're gonna need a whole loaf… Perhaps, after we learn why it's after her and, in order to get him to leave her alone, we can use the loaf as a bargain to keep him off of her.'_

_**Agreed.** _

He swiftly went for the pantry of their kitchen, grabbing a loaf of sourdough bread Mikey hadn't opened to use yet, shoving it through the gap in his shell, went back to his brothers and April, all already heading for the turnstile before he even gave them the okay to head out.

"Wait!" Splinter's voice called out to them, now holding the nest with Karasu settling to get back to sleep. "We do not yet know what you are facing. Perhaps you should study your enemy before confronting him."

_...Father does have a point. Not only that, we don't even know what the mutant-pigeon actually looks like and April's point of view could've been exaggerated, from her scared state._

_'That may be true, however...'_

"With all due respect, Sensei, it's a pigeon. We'll be able to handle it." All too confidentially, Don stated to their father.

That was what Leo knew was going to happen and he didn't like how overconfident his brothers are at the moment, being so full of themselves and thinking they're unbeatable. They wouldn't be so confident, if they recounted the many times they fought the Kraang, Foot ninjas, the few humans and other mutants they went up against. How in nearly all of them, the odds would be against them and would take a turn for the worse.

_**Omega-Brothers and Beta-Brother over confident, false to believe task to be simple... Something wrong, awaits for team...** Evil  **comes for Pup...**_

His dream of the threat is certainly lurking in the back of his mind, meaning the warning is going to come true.

_You should've told Father about the dreams, since they first came._

_'And have him think my lack of sleep from caring for Karasu, training and worrying from my last encounter with the Foot, could be the cause of my nightmares and unease? Not that simple. Even if he believes me, my brothers won't be that much open minded to take my warning to_ _heart.'_

"What you know is dangerous to your enemy. What you  _think_  you know, is dangerous to you." Splinter said to Don's response, tapping his cane against the hard-ground. His Reddish-Brown eyes flashed in worry. "I fear you are all becoming overconfident."

Anger coursed in Leo's being.

 _'"All" of us, being overconfident?'_ A low rumble nearly escaped his throat, but he has to bite his own tongue to prevent himself from giving his rage away.  _'You actually believe we're all being too confident, and are ignoring your teachings and warnings?!'_

_**Don't get fur in knots, Pup. Alpha's tone more towards Kins and She-Pup, but not made eye-contact to Pup. Even if gaze aim towards Pup, Pup heeds Alpha's warning and teachings.** _

"Pardon me, Sensei, but in the past few months, we've taken down giant spiders, plant creatures, alien robots and an army of ninjas." Don, Mikey and Raph high-three each other, before Raph continued off for Donatello.

"We're not being overconfident, Sensei. We're just that good."

"Yeah, boy!" Mikey agreed, and the three younger-brothers ran to the exit, not bothering to look back or to hear whatever else their father has to say to them, with April catching up from behind. Leo is the only one left in the Lair, gazing back at his face who held that concern look on his face.

"Leonardo-…" Leo knew what his sensei wants him to do.

"I'll bring them all back,  _alive_." He swore, and immediately took off for his brothers and April.

_Why did you make it sound like you'll hold that promise, even if it means your death?_

_'Because even if it comes down to it, I'll do so to ensure their safety and at least get the team back home to Master Splinter… Without hesitation.'_

* * *

**In an Alley, to April's Last Location…  
** "Here I am, walking around in the big city. All alone! Oh, I sure hope no crazy Pigeon-Man sneaks up on me. That would be the last thing I'd want." From his hiding place, within the shadow of the building, Leo covered his mouth to silence his yawn.

 _'Does she really think she's fooling anybody?'_ He wondered, not in the least convinced she's trying to act like nothing has happened for the 'Pigeon-Man' to come and get her.  _'Even if it's a pigeon, I think even it will be able to know she's trying to bait him to come and grab her.'_

**_Focus, Pup. Could come at any moment. Remain hidden, and silent._ **

"What are you doing?" Donnie, hiding from behind the garbage dump, popped up.

"You wanted me to be bait. I'm bait."

Leo can sense an argument is coming.

"That's not how bait talks."

"How do you know bait talks?"

"I know bait doesn't talk back."

Yep, Don just overstepped his boundaries.

"Ooooohhhh!" Mikey, from the fire escape, and Raph, hidden underneath the manhole-cover, went at the same time.

"Oh, no, you didn't." The youngest-turtle went, then he and Raph went back to hiding. Leo remained hidden in his spot, but glared at Don.

_'That'll surely get her to start liking you more than just a friend, Donatello.'_

Donnie gave a nervous chuckle, while April only kept glaring at him at his choice of words on how she should be acting.

"Just act natural," was all he said and instantly went back into hiding. His suggestion didn't really help, since she can't actually act normal when the 'Pigeon-Man' can pop up at any moment and swoop her out to the sky. Leo had an idea.

"April," he whispered out. The sixteen year-old slowly walked to the shadow, guessing where he is and still remains in the open. "Sound bored, a little sarcastic if you want. Just, don't sound cheerful and don't move around much, besides walking casually." She thought about it for a second, then found that much easier to get what he wants her to do than Donnie does.

"Thanks, Leo." She whispered back, then went back to the open and took a deep breath to get herself into character. "Here I am, actin' normal, just totally defenseless against any, I don't know, hideous Pigeon-Guy who might happen upon me."

 _'That's a lot better,'_  Leo thought.  _'She's forcing herself to relax, which'll make it easier to attract the mutant to try and get her.'_ As April walked casually down the alleyway, a faint rustling in the wind tickled the turtle's nose with a scent that makes his stomach want to revolt. His eyes flashed over to the building across the street and, as the scent trailed from, he saw the form of a giant pigeon launching itself off the rooftop and swooping down towards April.

_Wait! Let Donnie bring him down, first!_

"Aaahh!" April screamed, as the bird dropped down, it's talons reaching out for her… Until It got shocked by Don's creation of his own taser that he made from an old egg beater, and dropped heavily to the ground. Immediately, Leo jumped onto the pigeon's back and forced one of it's wings behind it's back, letting out a snarl and baring his fangs to warn the mutant he'll wound him if he tries to do anything to hurt his team.

"Okay, okay, uncle!" The mutated-pigeon cried, slapping his other wing to the ground from the intense pain coursing through his body.

"And you said I wasn't good bait." April said to Don, still glaring at him for talking to her like that.

"Start talking, Pigeon-Man." Raph forced out, placing a foot on the mutant's head in case it tries to peck at his brother.

"I have a name!" The pigeon yelled, earning a tighter grip on the arm by Leo.

"And we don't care what it is." Leo's glare shifted from the mutant underneath him, to Raph and his glared flashed a warning to his brother to ease off.

"It's Pete."

_ …Eh, not that bad for a name. _

**_Human Name…? Humans name bird?_ **

"Okay,  _Pete_. Why were you trying to hurt April?" Raph snickered a bit, who then earned a smack to his leg from Leo to remove his foot off of Pete's head and a sharper glare saying  _'Be serious.'_.

"I didn't want to hurt her," Pete answered. "I was just bringing her a message. From her  _father_."

Immediately, Leo ceased his baring and got off before April could tell him to. In full-height, he'd probably be an inch or two shorter than Splinter. His markings of blue-mixed with purple on his neck showed more of him being a pigeon, though surprised to see three-fingered talons underneath his arms and his eyes made the turtle feel a bit uneasy. All in all, despite wearing purple boxers with yellow-polka dots, Pete actually like alright*… For an enlarge mutated-pigeon.

As he got up, Pete made similar cooing sounds a pigeon would normally make… Yep, still basically more of a pigeon, though his scent also told Leo he also carries human-DNA… Also, the scent of the mixture of earth and fire that the Mutagen carries.

"We were both guests of the Kraang," he explained. "They poured some ooze on me and turned me into this!"

"That must've been horrible. Being turned into a  _pigeon_."

"Actually, I started out as a pigeon!" Pete corrected her, not seeming to take her own assumptions as an insult. Though, should've actually thought of the possibility Kraang wasn't just taking humans and/or using them to mutant them.

"Told you the bread crumbs would have worked." Mikey muttered, before being grabbed by Pete's talon-hands the instant he said bread crumbs.

"You've got bread crumbs?!" Yep, he's definitely still a pigeon than a humanoid-pigeon. He wasn't exactly hurting Mikey, but Leo made sure Pete can sense his glare if he hurts his youngest-brother in any way.

"Um, my father?" She reminded the bird, who finally let go of Mikey and handed her a phone she knew belongs to her father. The image shows her father, disturbed and unease, and appears to be trap in a cell the last time the turtles saw him.

_"Something terrible is about to happen. And I don't know what, but it's extremely important that you get out of the city as soon as you can. Save yourself…! Remember, I love you."_

"I love you, too, Daddy." She said back to the message, hugging the phone as if she's actually embracing her father and not a phone.

His message did seem very troubling for Leo. Of course, something's going to happen but if Kirby was referring that the Kraang are the ones involved, then that'll mean bigger problems than just Shredder and the Foot to deal with.

"Do you have any idea what he's talking about?" He asked Pete, who simply shook his head.

"I'm just the messenger," he answered.

"We have got to get you out of the city." That's something a bit surprising for Leo to hear from Donnie, especially when he's agreeing to April's father about getting her out of New York.

"I'm not going anywhere without my dad." And, of course, her loyalty and love for her father proves too strong to listen to reason and is going to remain in the city.

"But you heard him; something terrible is gonna happen." Donnie gently argued, but his warning won't be enough to change her mind.

"Then we better hurry."

Leo knows she should heed her father's warning, like his brothers should've heeded Splinter's warning, but something told the turtle that Kirby's effort to save his daughter won't be enough to protect her.

_'Something bad is going to happen, but does her father actually think getting her out of the city will be enough to save her?'_

_She knows this is for her own safety. This isn't the time for her to be stubborn! Get her out of here!_

_'But to where? And even if she listens, whose to say she'll be better off somewhere else…?_  -a startling thought popped up in his head-  _Whose to say, if Kraang are only here, in New York City, and not anywhere else on Earth?_ '

_**Pup believes enemy will still capture She-Pup April, no matter where she goes?** _

_'If the Foot came here from Japan, making a territory on another continent but still being active in Japan to expand, then it's highly possible that the Kraang have also been expanding, just as humans have done… Especially, since Master Splinter ran into them, fifteen years ago.'_

_Meaning, she's going to end up in danger, no matter where she goes. And if she leaves the city, without any guide to properly fight or you guys to protect her, she'll be captured for sure._

_**What shall Pup and Kins do?** _

Leo knows April won't leave, nor will she head back to her aunt's or even to the Lair and let them handle the situation; she made hard strides to find her father, and she's going to be there when they get her father from Kraang, no matter what.

 _'Since Pete was with her father…'_ He faced Pete. "Can you tell us where the Kraang are holding him?"

"I can…" Pete offered, though he sounded like he wants something. "But it's gonna cost you a lot of bread."

Leo smirked, actually impressed.

 _'Seems the mutagen may have given him some intelligence to think for himself, including holding information in exchange to what's valuable to him.'_ "We're talking about actual bread, right?"

"Yep. Sourdough!" Earning the correct answer, Leo reached into the back of his shoulder with his right-hand and pulled out the loaf he hid within his shell. His brothers and April were stunned to see what he just did.

"Done." He tossed the loaf of bread to Pete, who eagerly grabbed the bag with his taloned-hand and ripped the bag open to devour his meal. Don was the first to come out of his stunned moment, and he didn't look too happy.

"You had a loaf of bread in the inside of your shell, the entire time?!" He yelled, which didn't scare Leo in the least and just shrugged.

"Only place to store it, without any chances on losing or damaging it, before  _you guys_  decided to take off to capture Pete. Besides, it was your idea to ignore Mikey's suggestion of using bread crumbs and chose to have April as bait, without having a backup plan in case something goes wrong or doesn't work." Don's brownish-red eyes narrowed, folding his arms over his plastron and trying to ignore the glares the youngest turtle and April are giving him.

"Is there anything else you put inside your shell?" Leo rolled his eyes.

"Well, besides my mini-telescope that's in my shell right now  _-that earned him a sharper glare from Don, and startling looks from Raph and Mikey-_  nothing else, really." His younger-brother looked ready to explode, but the blue-masked turtle cut him off. "You can yell at me, when we finish the mission and head back to the Lair. Right now, we have a bargain to finish with Pete."

* * *

Turns out, Pete has a strong memory of where the Kraang has been hiding, since the outside looks like any other building to avoid suspicious and they wouldn't have been able to find it on their own. Although, Leonardo would've either asked some of the birds where they've seen which building Pete come out from, followed Kraang or track down Pete's scent for the location. Donatello still wants to argue with Leo on how irresponsible he was for placing certain items in the gap of his shell and not think the possibility it could mess with his posture, but has agreed to hold off the conversation until they get home. After Pete told them where to go, Michelangelo once again used a smoke bomb, purposely wasting away what would be of use to them for a getaway after freeing Kirby O'Neil.

As they made it to the roof and Don works on removing the top of a turbine ventilator, Leo could feel a pair of eyes following them… No doubt, the Foot. However, they didn't have time to deal with them; even if they were to split up, not even he and any of his three brother would be able to handle a bunch of Kraang on their own while the other two deals with the Foot ninjas.

"Piece of cake." The purple-masked turtle said to himself.

"Let's do this!" April stated, ready to jump in and get her father, which Leo has to, unfortunately, stop her.

"We need you to wait here, April." She didn't like his orders at all.

"Are you crazy?! My dad's in there!" Her gaze may frighten his brothers, but it didn't even make him cringe at all. And while he knows how much this means to her, his first priority is to ensure the safety of his teammates and since she's still a newbie to becoming a Kunoichi, she'll only in the way or even get recaptured with her father.

"Along with who knows how many Kraang!" He argued back, trying to make her see reason. "This requires stealth, and mobility. Leave it to us."

April scoffed.

"I can't just do nothing!" Leo just about had it; for somebody who's a year older than him, she sure doesn't act for her age and when somebody tries to challenge the blue-mask turtle's patience, they end up regretting it.

 _'She wants to do something? Fine! I'll give her something to do.'_ " _You_  won't be doing nothing. _-Raph handed him a long, sturdy rope, sensing his older-twin's frustration with April and chose not to give Leo any more of a hard than he already is in-_  We need you to lower this rope, when we give you the signal. Alright?" A stunned, annoyed look can be seen on her face, but didn't talk back and took the rope to tie it around the ventilator as the four brothers went inside.

Like last time, the inside is just like the last hideout Kraang designed on the inside: Clear-metal walls, crates with strange symbols, purple-markings on the ceiling and walls, and Kraang soldiers patrolling parts of the hallway. The moment one of the Kraang has their back turn to the entrance of the ventilator, Don and Leo were able to land without making a sound and hid themselves behind the crates… Mikey, unfortunately, slipped and landed roughly on his shell, attracting the Kraang's attention and would've been blasted if Raph hadn't dropped down to silence the alien.

Leo lifted his beak in the air, sniffing out for any scent to locate Kirby O'Neil, as he listens and looks throughout his surrounding. So far, he mostly smells multiple scents that he would guess would be like squid, but mixed with copper and some toxic-like poison. A low growl vibrated in his chest, but pushed his predatory response aside to remain silent, as he and his brothers scope the hallway in search for the cell Kirby is being held in.

_Kraang, around the corner._

The blue-masked turtle held up a hand behind him, silently telling his brothers to wait. The sounds of footsteps were heading away from the corner he and his brothers hid behind, given him more than enough time to sprint towards the Kraang and brought the Kraangdroid into pieces in one swipe with his swords.

 _'That's one less Kraang to worry about, but that doesn't help to figure out where April's father is being held and it'll be a while before I can follow his scent.'_  He sheathed Musashi and Kamiizumi back into their scabbards.

_Two Kraang, further down the hall!_

Leo and his brothers took the time hiding behind the corners of the cell doors, as they followed two Kraangdroids heading for a room that eventually revealed being some sort of control room. The blue-masked turtle slammed the Kraangdroids' heads together and Raph threw one of his sais at a third Kraang that was already inside of the room. One of the aliens tried to get out from it's robotic body, letting out a shriek that sounded either terrified or angry when it saw Raph and Leo, before Leo silenced it by punching it straight in the face.

Inside the control room, it's shaped as a small cylinder with a dumbbell-shape machinery, most likely a Kraang's version of a super-computer, in the center of the small room. Calm, but shifting blue-lights on the walls irritated Leo's eyes, as the machinery in the middle had thin, white-lights slid down like rain streaks gliding down the window.

_ Avoid any distractions that'll blind you from your task. _

At least his Conscious will always be useful to him, whenever he's on a mission and needs to be reminded of any teachings from Splinter that'll help him complete their objectives.

"Donnie, hack into system and see if you can find out about the Kraang's plot.  _-Raph and Mikey came to his side, after removing the knockout Kraang inside the room with them to the side-_ Raph, you're with me. Mikey, you stay with Donnie."

"Why do I always get stuck with Mikey?" Donatello complained, earning a "Hey…" from the orange-masked turtle.

"Because you're the only one who has more patience to watch over Mikey, than Raph and I can." Leo explained, glaring at his second youngest-brother. "And right now, I need Raph to watch my back and to alert me if Kraang are coming, while I try to get the doors to April's father's cell to open. Besides  _-the blue-masked turtle gave the purple-masked turtle a smirk-_ you two actually have surprising amount of luck on finding the exact information we're looking for, when you two are paired together."

Donatello had a look of disbelief to that last part.

"That isn't true, and you know it!" He argued back. "If you don't want him with you, why don't you just say it?!"

"Hey…!" Mikey whined again, hurt that Don would dare to accuse their eldest for not wanting the youngest with him when he's making logical sense to why he's pairing the two youngest-turtles together.

"If you don't want him, then make Raph take Mikey."

"Over my dead body," the red-masked turtle immediately responded.

"Hey!" Michelangelo glared at his two older-brothers, hurt and annoyed how they're having a conversation involving him and acting like he isn't in the room with them. "I'm starting to think nobody wants to be with me.  _-A slight glimmer of guilt flashed in Leo's eyes, which Mikey sent out a gaze of his own saying, 'it's not you, who I'm referring to'-_ Fine, I'll just go off my own."

Leo knew the very second what he's going to do.

"Mikey, don-" The orange-masked turtle pulled out another smoke bomb, surrounding himself in the purple-smoke and vanished before his big brothers… Until they heard a thumping noise coming from the door to their right, watching the youngest coming through the door, followed by a faint trail of the smoke.

"…That's a closet," he embarrassingly chuckled. Leo gave Don a firm glare, silently telling him  _'He stays with you, so watch him'_.

"Have fun, you two!" Raph joked, as he and his older-twin exited the control room and once again scouted for Kirby. Leonardo's nose was beginning to get more and more irritated the more Mikey uses the smoke bombs right in his face, messing with his sense of smell at the time but is secretly grateful that it doesn't let him smell more of Kraang's disturbing smell.

_ Now, how will you be able to find him? _

_**Pup not smell… Hear, feel vibrations.** _

"Any ideas how to find him, Leo?" Raph questioned, not sure how they'll find Kirby on their own, with or without Don's smarts to guide them.

He didn't answer his brother, but the blue-masked turtle crouched over the floor until both of his hands and feet are fully touching the ground. He then closed his eyes, focusing on any vibration he can feel underneath him, while focusing on certain sounds around them.

**_"Kraang has lost nearly two kilograms of weight. Kraang never felt so slim in Kraang's life."_ **

**_"Kraang has been on which is known as 'Internet', and found what is known as 'video' of what the humans refers to as 'La Macarena'… Kraang approves this that is known as, 'music'."_ **

_"…Please, be safe, April."_

Leo snapped his eyes open.

"This way." He didn't checking to see if his brother will follow him or not, only that he's located one of his pack-mate's family and is a step closer to helping his fellow siste-… Leo nearly yelped in astonishment by that thought and would've stopped in his tracks, if his body doesn't react the same way his mind does and felt no threat coming their way.  _'I haven't approved of her being Kin! What's going on?!'_

_ You can figure that out, later. Right now, focus on the mission! _

He clenched his teeth-like fangs together, until his nose finally told him Kirby O'Neil is behind Cell #26.

"Mr. O'Neil," he whispered. "Are you in here?"

In a few seconds, Leo got his answer: On the other side of the purple-glass window, stood the same man he saw when he and his brothers first saw the girl, Kirby O'Neil. He looked surprised seeing them, but not in a terrified way one would see when meeting a mutated humanoid-animal.

"You're one of the turtles who rescued my daughter." There's much gratitude and relief in the father's tone for the moment, until his concern took over when looking out as far as he could in the small window. "Is she okay?"

_**Tell She-Pup's Alpha truth, Pup.** _

"For the moment, she is. However, she's refusing to listen to reason and is waiting outside, preparing our escape." The human's worry grew more to the turtle's answer.

"She's still here? In the city?" Leo didn't have time to answer, and turned to what looks to be an area where Kraang would use a key to open and close the cell-doors. "That girl is stubborn."

The leader smirked.

"Must run in the family," he lightly joked with him. With the panel gone, certain wires appears before him.

It all looked similar to Leo when they came to rescue April and Kirby for the first time, while getting Donatello to pay attention to the task at hand and to stop making small talk with the girl. Two wires of the same color seems to need to connect with each other, but other wires were in the way that prevents him from connecting the two together.

 _'Looks like the Kraang's key must be an extension that force the two to connect, without even making contact.'_ With his hands, nearly the size of a twenty year-old man, it'll take some time for him to carefully weave the two wires until they have enough space to contact, without tripping any alarm or cause any damage that would alert the Kraang that they're here.

"Since it's taking Leo  _forever_  to pick the lock-…" Raph started, until Leo decided to counter his impatient response after waiting nearly fifteen seconds for the doors to open.

"If you think you can do this, without damaging the lock with your Sais, that could very well be upgraded to alert Kraang that  _somebody_  is trying to break their prisoner out, then be my guest, Raph." No sound of feet moving told Leo he was going to do so, and continued focusing on getting the two dark-grey wires to connect.  _'That's what I thought.'_

"…Maybe you can tell us what the heck's the deal with the Kraang."

Kirby was more than happy to answer, though still looks anxious and disturbed of something.

"They're aliens from another dimension. When they came here, they brought the mutagen with them."

Leo nearly pulled too tightly onto the wires from what he heard, but reminded himself to be careful and keep focus on the lock.

"And their reason for turning humans into mutated monsters?" He growled out.

"The Mutagen doesn't work the way they thought it would," Kirby explained. "Apparently, the physical laws of their universe are different from ours."

_'And the Kraang's reason for kidnapping Kirby O'Neil…'_

"They're grabbing scientists to help them modify the mutagen." Something in the back of his head still puzzles him.  _'_ _If they just wanted scientists to improve the mutagen… Why take April, as well?'_

_ Probably to prevent her from getting the police involved? Make a identity sketch of what the abductors look like? _

_'…No, it's something else, but I don't know what. The only good thing out of all this, is that the mutagen didn't turn us or Master Splinter into whatever the Kraang want it to do to other living creatures.'_ "Do you know what exactly they want the mutagen to do?"

"I wish I knew." Seems Kraang were careful to not give out much information to Kirby about the mutagen, but at least he knew enough to know that whatever the Kraang plans to do, it isn't going to be good.

"Leo, Raph, they've planted a mutagen bomb downtown." Donatello and Michelangelo regrouped with their oldest brothers. "They're gonna use it to disperse ooze over half the city!" His frantic expression immediately shifted to calm and polite, when he saw Kirby O'Neil. "Oh, hi, Mr. O'Neil. Your daughter's really nice." Leo glanced at Raph, who got the message, and smacked Don on the head for trying to be friendly with April's father when they just learned Kraang is going to mutant over a million of innocent lives.

"Okay, we have to disarm the bomb.  _-Leo turned back to the lock, almost have the two wires able to make contact-_ I almost got this door to open, so we're gonna have to-"

"Have you guys tried this?" Mikey's voice cut him off, gaining the turtles and Kirby's attention to him pointing at a button on the wall. Panic ran through Leo's body from the sight of the large-button, as he and the two mid-turtles called out in unison.

"No!" It was too late. Michelangelo has already pushed the button… Making it beep for a few times, before it let out an alarm and the whole room flashed in pinkish-purple colors.

"And that's why no one wants to be with you!" Raph yelled, jabbing a finger onto his youngest-brother's plastron. Leo forced the wires to connect, no longer needing to take his time to finished the last two weaves.

"Got it!" The doors open, and Kirby is finally allowed out of his cell. Five blue-skinned Kraangdroids came charging in, their blasters ready to fire. "Let's move!" He and Donnie each had a hold on both Kirby's side, keeping him in the middle so their shells will act like shields if the Kraang hits him, unintentionally, as Raph and Mikey followed by behind.

When they reached the cargos and saw the entrance of the ventilator, Leo let out a loud, high-whistling sound to signal April of their arrival.

"Dad!" She called out, relieved and worried to see her father after a month and a half of being apart. She quickly threw the rope down, which Kraang immediately locked on and tried to blast it to prevent the turtles and Kirby from escaping. Raph was able to kick a barrel at three of them and even jabbed one who foolishly tried to shoot them at close-range, but the blasters made it impossible for them to try and make a move on them.

_**More coming!** _

Leo knew they're being cornered and if one of them ends up shooting the rope, they'll be trapped and the mutagen bomb will mutate over half the city of New York into… Well, whatever they last made contact with.

_Retreat! Must escape!_

_'Kinda hard to do so, when unlimited blasters are threatening to drill holes through your shell and plastron!'_

Having a conversation with his Instinct and Conscious, distracted Leo from realizing the last Kraang Raph took care of has dropped its blaster near Kirby's feet. So, when the human pulled away from Don and the blue-masked turtle and grabbed the blaster, he realize the most difficult decision he has to do.

"Go!" Kirby told Leo, as he figured out how to use the blaster and was able to shoot down a few of the Kraang. "Save my daughter. Save the  _city_!"

"Daddy, no!" April cried out, watching her father putting himself in danger and shooting as many of the Kraang that he can to buy the turtles enough time to escape.

"Go, go!" Leo told his brothers, heading for the rope and using his shell as a shield to block any blasters from hitting his brothers.

"We can't leave him here!" Don stated, helping Mikey up the rope as Raph was next to climb.

"We don't have a choice." He forced his brother's hand onto the rope, his Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes telling Don how he, also, despise having to leave April's father behind and when the genius turtle finally climbed up, Leo readied himself to escape. "We'll come back for you," he called out to Kirby. "We  _will_ free you, and bring you back to your daughter... I swear on my life."

Kirby didn't say anything, nor bother seeing the turtle make his escape, but Leo can sense his gratitude and trust to keep his daughter safe from the Kraang. The despair and grief could easily be seen on the girl's face, as she and the turtles watch as Kraang pin him from behind and drag him back to his cell.

"April," Don said. "I swear to you, that we'll stop at nothing to getting your father back." All she did was wipe the tears from her Sky-blue eyes, a small-smile of appreciation on her face, before she and the others turned to Leo for what they're going to do now.

"It's clear what we must do now," he said. "April, I know you don't want to be left out any more than you have been, but given the circumstances from what we just learned and should Kraang try to make another attempt on kidnapping you, we need you to head on back to the Lair." Rather than argue at this point, the redhead girl nodded her head. "As for the rest of us... We got a bomb to disarm."

* * *

 **At the Wolf Hotel…  
** Just as the blueprints told Don, the mutagen bomb has been placed behind the sign of the building, making it nearly possible for a normal human to take notice. Even if they had, they would've thought it being some new project the company's trying to perform. None of them would ever take notice of five Kraangdroids, guarding the perimeter while they set the bomb to detonate after a certain amount of time. It almost look like it's in the shape of a spinning top, or how the humans would set the New Years Ball to drop on the countdown.

While they were at the Kraang hideout, Don decided to see what was inside the crates and found what looks to be mini battery packs that help charge the Kraang's blasters, which he thinks can be useful and recreated as mini-bombs for them. Leo, while they head for the Wolf Hotel, took four branches from four separate trees and a some clothes lines that weren't being use to, with Don's help, swiftly made four bows for each of the turtles to use. Raph and Mikey were able to be helpful by finding certain feathers and scraps of metals for arrows, making six arrows for two turtles to have two and the other two to each take one.

For aliens who're from another dimension and prove to be clever enough to modify their Kraangdroids to blend in with the humans, they sure don't appear to be that skilled enough to detect ninjas who easily blends within the shadows and are on the same building with them at this moment.

 **"Kraang, in how many time units known as minutes will the device containing the mutagen that will be spread over the place known as New York, be detonated?"**  Above him, Leo gave a firm nod to his brothers to bring down the Kraang and use their arrows to avoid the blasters.

 **"Five."** Raph took out the one who already activated the bombs to start counting down, along with a Kraang that stood behind the Wolf sign. Don took out a Kraang that was guarding on the ground who failed to protect the Kraang that started up the bomb, while Mikey used two arrows for the two Kraang on the upper-part of the bomb. The fifth Kraang, on top of the bomb, laid low and aimed its blaster for Mikey, but didn't react in time when Leo cut it in half and the Kraangdroid fell to the ground.

With all the Kraang incapable to keep fighting and abandoned their bomb, the turtles are allowed easy access to the bomb.

"It's up to you now, Don." Leo told the genius turtle, who happily made his way to the panel… Only to be horrified what was hidden underneath it.

"Uh-oh."

"'Uh-oh'?" Mikey repeated.

"What do you mean uh-oh, Donnie?" Raph butted in, glaring down to see what the problem is. "You said you knew how to do this!"

"I didn't count on a design this complex." Donnie tried to explained, which sounded more like an excuse to Raph that he won't accept.

"Well, what did you expect, Don? They're aliens from another dimension! Were you expecting a big round ball with a lit fuse that said bomb?!"

"No, but this-!"

"And you know what? I sure hope this argument goes on for another four minutes and fifteen seconds!"

"Enough!" Leo yelled, shoving Raphael away from the second youngest-turtle before he could smack the genius turtle upside the head. "Don, I know this isn't going to be easy, but you're gonna have to make due on what you can do to shut the bomb off. All right?" His calm voice did help Donatello to refocus on examining the wires, and the mechanics from the alien technology before him.

It's clear that he has no idea which is what and knowing the timing is slowly ticking by, isn't helping his nerves, but nothing more makes him panic than having his three brothers looking over his shoulders and pressuring him to work faster.

"Look out for the wires!" Raph warned, though his warning only made the purple-mask turtle even more under pressure.

"You guys are not helping!"

"What if we just push this button?" Mikey said, reaching over for a red-button with a finger until the red-mask turtle stopped him from pushing it.

"Don't you think you've pushed enough buttons tonight?"

"Guys, serious, I cannot work with you all pressuring me!" Donnie yelled, never keeping his eyes off the design of the bomb for even a second.

While the argument was going on, Leo's hearing caught the sound of two figures nearby… And his nose told him it's two people he encountered, neither of them friends at all.

"Guys, we got another problem to deal with!" He pulled out Musashi and Kamiizumi, turning to face two of Shredder's right-hand men who also made the first move to dash for them. "Raph, Mikey, with me! Don, stay and disarm the bomb! Keep them away from Donnie!"

Surprisingly, neither pulled out their weapons but that didn't mean they couldn't fight with just their fists. Even Xever, whose slimmer than Donnie, surprised the turtles when he lifted Michelangelo over his head and tossed him aside with such strength the guys had to watch out for.

"We don't have time for this!" Leo yelled, ducking from Xever's kicks and able to block his third kick to shove him off balance.

"Oh, sorry for the inconvenience. When would you prefer to breathe your last breath?" The Brazilian replied in a sarcastic way, as he delivered a powerful kick that Leo blocked with both his arms.

 _'Donnie better hurry with that bomb,'_ he thought to himself.

_He's probably almost done, give him time._

_'Unfortunately, I can't give him any more time than the bomb is counting down.'_ "You don't understand how in serious danger we're in!" He yelled at Bradford, who finally pulled out his own sword and missed hitting Raphael when the turtle ducked. "If that bomb goes off, it'll wipe us  _all_  out!"

"I'd rather perish in honor, than live in shame!" A forced shove made Leo slide backwards, dragging on the wrappings on his feet. He can sense the anger boiling up in Bradford, giving him an idea on how to get to him.

"You mean the shame you're living in right now, by serving under a dishonorable murderer?" When Bradford took his eyes off of Raph for a moment to glare at the blue-masked turtle, the second eldest took the opportunity to launch himself off the chimney of the hotel and head bash in the face. Yep, he was getting angry.

"You disgusting reptile wouldn't even know the meaning of honor, under the guidance of my master's may hated enemy!"

With Bradford still recovering from that painful bash that nearly broke his nose, Raph took the moment to pressure Donatello even more on defusing the bomb while Leo and Mikey tried to overwhelm Xever by attacking him from both sides and at the same time. Leo was lucky to force himself into a backflips when the Brazilian attempted to kick both of them from both side, but Michelangelo wasn't so fortunate to dodge in time. Leo still continued talking to Bradford, who locked weapons with Raph and took the opportunity to grab his belt and toss him to the edge of the rooftop.

"You mean how revenge is the way of the true warrior, and should be above all others? Because that sounds more like a fool who can't accept he's his own worst enemy, who purposely mislead his followers and doesn't admit his own faults that he caused to dishonor himself and the clan of his heritage!"

"Silence!"

With his focus on Leonardo, the human has forgotten of the other turtles until Michelangelo's Kusarigama chain wrapped itself around his left-arm and pulled him back, losing his footing and hitting the ground on his back. With skills, the orange-masked turtle unwrapped his chain from his enemy at afar distant and, when Bradford got to his feet and turned his attention on the youngest-turtle, tried making another strike with the same end that just constricted itself around the human's wrist. The human has proved to being well trained by dodging the Kusarigama and, with brute force, rammed Michelangelo and bashed him against the sign of the hotel.

Leo immediately charged from behind, raising Kamiizumi over his head while Bradford tried striking his baby brother, who blocked the strike of the human's blade. He knew Shredder's right-hand man would sense his approach and block his attack, but that's what he wanted him to do; turn his attack and attention away from Mikey, and turn his back to give his brother an opening to strike.

"Go for the green!" Michelangelo called out to Donnie, who took Leo's offer to attack Bradford from behind and ended up punched when chose for a direct attack instead of long-range.

_'Will Don take Mikey's suggestion?'_

_ He has to make a decision right now; we're only seconds away from multiple mutations to take place! _

_**Pup, remain focus on fight!** _

Leo slammed himself against Bradford, ducking away from the sword that nearly made a cut on the tails of his bandana and leap for the back of the sign. Bradford followed, as he expected him to, and charged the turtle. The turtle blocked with both swords, remaining firm in his spot as his opponent tries to push him back.

 _'Not going to back down that easily, Lap Dog.'_ His gaze took notice of a certain mark on his right-hand, appearing to being a bite from a canine from the positioning of the teeth-marks. A startling thought came to his mind.  _'If Don doesn't finish_ _diffusing that bomb-…'_

"Guys, guys, Mikey was right about something!" That's one problem he didn't have to worry for now, but the fear still lingers.

_Focus!_

His feet skid back a bit, and soon found himself on his shell when Bradford kicked him in the plastron. The kick definitely knocked the air out from his lungs and wouldn't be able to dodge the next blow, if Donatello hadn't finally join the fight and got Bradford by landing on his face and smacking him against the metal-pole.

 **"** **Rafaeru o tasukete**  (Help Raphael) **!"**  Don immediately followed Leo's orders. He turned to Mikey, who came to his brother's side and helped him to his feet. "Mikey, teamwork." He didn't need to tell him or his brothers what he wants them to do; they already figured out how they can win, without forcing themselves to use any more of their energies than they already used up for tonight to beat the two to the very end.

_ You able to keep this up? You're running on mere adrenaline, alone, right now. _

_'I have no choice; I don't know how much longer my brothers can keep this up, so we need to force them to surrender if we have any chance to walk away from this.'_

With Michelangelo's never-ending ball of energy to continue landing multiple hits and Leonardo's perfect timing to jump into the fight to overwhelm Bradford on trying to take the both of them at the same time, the human has been forced to back up. He didn't realize Xever is also being overwhelmed by Raphael and Donatello's teamwork and, unknowingly, is being herded where his companion is being forced into. By the time the both of them took notice where they ended up, up on the ledge of the mutagen bomb, it was already too late and are now back-to-back with each other, the turtles are surrounding them.

 _'Rushing, always the great tool for misdirection.'_ "You both have been defeated," Leo started. "You have no where to go... Your only option, is to surrender."

Neither looked pleased by the turtle's claim, though they knew he's right... What Leo didn't count on, was his great concern of the two being close to the mutagen bomb warning him of the unthinkable.

"...If I'm going down  _-Bradford pulled his sword beside him, startling Xever on what he's going to do-_ I'm taking you turtles with me!" The human jabbed his blade through the glass of the bomb, and when he pulled... The entire mutagen gushed out, pouring onto the humans and swept them off the rooftop.

The turtles, all of which got out of the way seconds after the mutagen was freed, could only watch as the rest went down the storm drain and most likely into the sewers. The younger-brothers are just as stunned as Leo in what just happened, but none of them are thinking on what the blue-masked turtle is thinking right now.

_'They're... They're going to mutate...'_

"We kicked the butts of the Kraang, and Shredder's henchmen, while diffusing a bomb and saving the city!" Donnie cheered, as he and the others high-three each other.

"Well, who can say?" Raph asked, sounding too overconfident and proud of the victory he believes was there. "We're not being overconfident."

"That's because we're that good, Bro!" Mikey answered, before going over to his big brother to get him involved to their moment of victory. Unfortunately, Leo knew now isn't the time to celebrate: They failed April to getting her father back, caused Xever and Bradford to mutate... And now, sensed a third enemy nearby, coming to reveal themself to the turtles.

A low growl left his throat and pulled his two swords out from their scabbards, startling his brothers.

"Come out of hiding, now!" He snarled out to the open space, his enhanced hearing picking up the sound of quiet footsteps walking on the top of the bomb and eyes locating a figure moving within the shadows of the night. A moment of silence went by, and then...

"Your skills are impressive." A voice, low and deep, spoke out. The three brothers looked to where their big brother is staring at, also bringing out their weapons once again for battle, and watched as a human jumped off the bomb and landed a few feet away from them. "But they will not save you."

When the figure finally revealed himself from the shadows, it was like revisiting a nightmares that finally came to life for the blue-masked turtle. Standing before them, is none other then their father's greatest enemy... Once was his brother, before he killed his wife, Tang Shen, his daughter, Hamato Miwa, and his clan fiftteen years ago: Oroku Saki, also known as, The Shredder.

Just as Leo saw in his dreams, Shredder's appearance verify his identity: Wearing a Kuro Kabuto over his face, no doubt to hide the markings of his past sin he committed, with gauntlets on both his arms and similar designs for his legs and shoulders, and a full-metal chest-plate. The only thing different from his dreams, is that there was no blood, but his nose can still pick up a faint scent of copper.

The Shredder's intimating figure sent shivers down the turtle's shell and knows he's no match to fight the human, but his instinct told him to not back down and protect his brothers. No matter what, he  _always_ listens to his instinct, even when it comes to protecting his clan and fellow packmates... At least, until they can finally protect each other and themselves, and no longer require his aid.

"Oh man. Do you guys think that's… The Shredder?" Donnie asked, unable to take his eyes off of him.

"Well, it's definitely  _a_  Shredder." Raph answered, his voice, surprisingly, gave away his own fear of the human before them.

"There is undoubtedly a fascinating story in how my old nemesis came to teach Ninjutsu to four mutant turtles.  _-Shredder's eyes flashed the promising of pain and death to the turtles.-_ Perhaps I will let one of you live long enough to tell it."

"Sorry, but we're not planning on staying, anytime longer." Donatello said, before turning to the youngest-brother. "Mikey!"

"So long, suckah!" Michelangelo pulled out an egg and tossed it to the ground… Only for no thick, purple-smoke emerging and shows to being just a normal egg that, somehow, passed to being a smoke-bomb. Leonardo already knew they didn't have any more smoke-bombs; thanks to Michelangelo's carelessness on wasting the smoke-bombs for no reason, they couldn't use anything to cover them while making a retreat for the sewers. "…Oops.  _-Mikey finally realized how he shouldn't had misused his older-brother's experiment, and unfortunately, that understanding is going to cost him and his brothers very dearly.-_  All right, that one's on me." At least he knows when he has to take responsibility of his own faults, when it puts them in a terrible spot.

Shredder made the first move to start the fight, drawing out two claw-like blades from his gauntlets as his choice of weapon. Raph was the first to attack him, using his sais to try and lock on to the human's weapon to restrict his enemy from properly moving his weapon to attack and allow himself easier access to attack. Unfortunately, locking on to simply the gauntlets and already sheathing the blades is nearly impossible for the red-mask turtle to do and trying to overpower his opponent made him look more as being the weaker strength in the battle. And to prove it, Saki delivered roundhouse kick and sent Raphael, not only flying to one of the letters of the Wolf sign, but getting electrocuted when his shell made rough impact with the sign.

_Raph!_

Leo felt disgusted with himself from just standing in the back and watching his own brother getting electrocuted in the process.

_**Attack! Now!** _

He didn't hesitated for even a moment when given the command.

" **Kono yarō**  (You bastard) **!"** He snarled out, purposely drawing Shredder's attention towards him and ignoring his brothers. In response, the human launched himself and punched the ground, missing the blue-masked turtler in inches when he pulled back.  _'I can't strike too soon,'_  he told himself.  _'I need to find an opening.'_ So, he stayed on the defensive side, blocking Shredder's attack and using his agility to keep some distance from the attack. What he didn't count on, when he ducked the second kick and forced himself to twist in the middle of the air, for the human to actually land an exact punch to his plastron. And unlike Bradford's punch earlier, Saki's punch felt nearly three times more effective on not only leaving him gasping for air, but possibly cracked a rib or two through his plastron.

A powerful kick to the chest had him skidding five feet away from the human, struggling to get air back into his lungs and to force back the pain.

"Leo!" He felt a hand resting on his shoulder, knowing it being Donatello from the feeling of the skin on his own.

"Don, stay back." He wheezed out, making his body to get off the ground and only succeeded at getting to a kneeling position. As always, his brothers chose to ignore his warning and went to attack the one who dared to injure his two big brothers. Him panting for breath wasn't a good sign, but when a cough forced itself from his throat, Leo was greatly alarmed to see small drips of blood on the wrappings of his right-hand and the taste of copper in his mouth.

_ Hurry, get Musashi and Kamiizumi! _

His two blades are still where they're last laid, waiting for their owner to retrieve them and to re-enter the battle.

_**Chance comes soon, Pup. Get ready!** _

Shredder has finished taking on Donnie and just punched Mikey, after taking hold of his Kusarigama chain that just coiled itself around his left-arm and just blocked two ninja-stars the youngest-turtle tossed before vanishing off the ledge of the roof.

_**Now!** _

Leonardo swiftly grabbed for his blades and, with great speed, stunned Shredder when his swords collided with his gauntlet and forced his body to twist. As he got himself to stop, Donatello, who made himself go back into the battle, used his brother's distraction to smack the human in the chest that nearly pushed him over the edge of the building. Since teamwork appears more effective than one-on-one, the two turtles decided to try attack their enemy at once.

**_Misdirect, Pup. Force Enemy's attention on self, away from Omega-Brother Donatello._ **

_'He'll figure out what I'd be doing… But, I have to ensure he doesn't wound the others as much he does on me.'_

_ …You're doing it, again. You're planning on doing something that can very well get you killed. _

_'If that's going to come down to it, so be it.'_

He did his part on distracting Shredder, using himself as a moving target for him to try and strike, while Donnie took each opportunity to attack from behind or even enough force to overthrow his balance. Whenever he turns his attention on the purple-masked turtle, Leo goes into the offensive and re-catches the human's attention. Eventually, Leo launched himself in the air and brought his swords down, only for Saki to catch him and toss him aside. Leo remained on his feet and went back to the defense to hold off against the claw-like blades that threatens to cut through flesh and shell. Don tried attacking from behind again, but his Bō snapped from the blades on the human's right-shoulder cutting through the wood with ease. Shredder grabbed the purple-masked turtle's head and Leo has already positioned himself to catch his brother, taking the blunt of the impact to cushion his brother's fall.

Leo looked over to the two pieces of the staff that was once a whole.

 _'He can no longer continue fighting, with his weapon no longer to aid him in battle.'_ He verified, gently setting Donatello against the wall and standing over him in a protective stance, as Shredder held up his blade-claws.

Right as he was about to make a move, Raphael jumped out from nowhere and slammed the human to the ground, landing powerful punches to Saki's unprotected back in a blinding rage. That victory, sadly, short-lived when the enemy got in a punch and now pinned the red-masked turtle to the ground. To his luck, though, Michelangelo wrapped his Kusarigama chain at the arm ready to strike Raph and pulled him off the second oldest turtle. Like an elevator, Shredder went up while Mikey went down, from his perch on the sign.

The end of his nunchucks that had the sickle on one of it's end, while heading down, quickly hooked that end to the bottom platform of the Wolf Hotel sign. A popping sound could be heard from down below.

"Uaagh!" Shredder ingredient used his free arm to cut himself few, along with cutting the right-bottom of the 'W' sign. The right-bottom piece came off from its spot... Falling towards Michelangelo.

Leonardo didn't hesitate, or even think. His body already went to a full-sprint, running on all-fours, his swords temporarily placed back in their scabbards. In seconds, Leo got both Mikey and himself out of the way, before that piece hit the ground. After a quick check over for any signs of injuries, the leader helped his brother to the other side of the rooftop wall.

A heavy mass from above collided with the metal platform from behind. Musashi and Kamiizumi, once again, are freed from their scabbards, ready to continue locking blades with Shredder. Around him, Leo can see his brothers struggling to get up or remained still where they remain: Michelangelo, with a few scrapes to the shell, plastron, and a few bruises on his arms and legs, slowly scooted his way against the wall towards Donatello. Said genius-turtle, with a major bruise on his head and right-arm and scratches on his shell and plastron as well, looked to where his broken weapon has remained on the ground with great disappointment and regret. Raphael, bruised and scraped in similar areas as his brothers, seems to be having trouble getting himself off the ground and rejoin the fight with his older-twin, no doubt from being electrocuted and having more internal wounds than the younger-brothers from the two powerful kicks he gained.

_'Looks like I'm on my own in this.'_

_But if they can't keep fighting, Shredder will surely try using your brothers against you in a hostage situation!_

_'Well, I can't just tell them to leave right now, or else Shredder will pick them off before he takes on me…!'_

**_Other ways to signal, contact with Kins, without alerting Enemy, Pup._ **

He can't use hand signal when he's holding his weapons and he doesn't know if Oroku Saki will be able to understand him in another language, besides Japanese… Until, he got an idea.

_'Donnie, you better get this and, this time, follow my order this time… I'll only be able to buy you guys a few minutes, at best, to escape and head for the sewers.'_

Through the low growl he emitted out from his voice, he made another sound that would be almost mistaken to a bat's clicking sound.

_**~Click-click~ click, click, ~click~.** _ _**~Click-click-click~,** _ _**click click, ~click~.** _ _**~Click-click-click~,** _ _**click click ~click~ click. C** _ _**lick click** _ _**click click,** _ _**click, click ~click~ click, click.*** _

He didn't look over to see if his genius brother got the message or not, nor did he bother checking to see if any of them are getting his message or not in morse code: "Get out of here". His eyes remained staring into the blind-eye and cold brownish-black eyes of his opponent, waiting for him to make the next move.

"Rrrrraaaauuuuhhhhh!" Simultaneously, Saki and Leonardo jumped towards each other at the same time, their blades out and ready to do whatever damage they could to their opponent… Sparks fly as their weapons collided with each other, gliding as metal meet metal. Leo has proven to be faster than the others and is an expert at defense… However, Shredder has shown the turtle he's no match for the leader of the Foot Clan and, with great strength, broke the connection of metal between them and struck the teen upon his plastron.

_***Crack!*** _

Leonardo felt, rather than heard, one or even more of his ribs break from the sheer power his plastron couldn't withstand from his enemy. He's just surprised he's able to land on his feet, until his injuries was too much and had to kneel… A very, big mistake to do, especially in battle. Saki grabbed the turtle from the back of his neck, slammed him against the mutagen bomb, pinned him high with his feet off the ground, and jabbed his claw-like blades at the turtle… Who  _cringed_  when they came at him, only to find the human purposely missed but now has the fifteen year-old trapped in his grasp.

"Tell me where Splinter is and I promise your demise will be swift." As he demanded the leader to answer him, a hidden blade in his gauntlet slowly slid out towards the turtle and was soon mere centimeters from his throat.

His brothers, who remained where in their spots, could only watch in horror as their big brother is now in the mercy of Oroku Saki and put in a terrible position that would mean his death, whether he told Shredder or not. And they can't do a thing about it, not without getting themselves killed in the process and their injuries impairs from fighting to their fullest potential. Donatello has caught what Leo was trying to tell them from the clicking sound and, almost immediately, he's against that order… Despite him knowing Leo's only doing what's best for the team and is looking out for them. But if he actually believes they were going to make a 'tactical retreat' and leave him behind, then he's so wrong.

Before Donatello or any of the turtles could come up with a plan, something unexpected happened: Leo  _smiled..._  Then, started snickering. It soon turned into a chuckle... A  _dark_ , low chuckling.

His laughter scared his brothers, greatly. Even Shredder, with most of face covered, even seemed a bit taken back by the turtle's sudden response to laugh.

"What is it that you find so amusing to laugh about, Turtle?" His answer, more chuckling that was starting to get on his nerves. "Why are you laughing, when you are at my mercy and will soon fall to my blade?"

Leonardo's chuckling went back to snickering, though it sounded even more disturbing from how low and dark it held. His Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes didn't hold fear, as Saki expected to see. Instead, all he saw was pure fearlessness, acceptance... And amusement.

"...That's priceless," he finally spoke. "You want  _me_  to tell  _you_  where my master is and in return, will swiftly end my life and the lives of my team...?  _-His smile only grew, making his brothers more horrified of the sudden change in their big brother's strange behavior-_ You actually think, that I would tell you where he is, when you're going kill us in the process, acting as if you're some sort of merciful ruler who came to end our suffering."

Shredder didn't say anything, only tightened his grip on Leo's neck when he started to laugh again... That didn't stop the teen from doing so.

"Is this what you do to your past victims, when you want something from them? Because, something tells me, you ended up losing your patience with them  _before_ you try using a different method to getting information, besides saying 'please' and 'thank you'... Tell me , Oroku Saki. Did you promised to end their lives swiftly, when you murdered them? Or better yet...  _-His eyes flashed deep hatred and despise towards the man holding him, but the disturbing smile remained.-_ How quickly did you ended  _ **her**_ demise, when you used your very own weapon and killed  ** _her_**?"

His eyes widened to his question for a mere second... Then the tip of the hidden blade poked his neck, drawing a thin trail of blood when it prickled his skin.

"How dare you speak of her, pathetic creature?" Saki growled out, hands nearly cutting off Leo's oxygen to slowly start choking him to death. "She was  ** _mine_** , and Hamato Yoshi knew that from the very beginning.  _He_ was the one who took Tang Shen away from  ** _me_**!"

Leonardo smirked at that comment.

"Really? Then that means  _he_  was the one who shed her blood, to stab her by  _his_ own weapon when she got caught in the crossfire to protect her  _husband_.  _-Saki's anger grew, a snarl escaping through his throat.-_ Admit it, Oroku Saki." His tone of voice changed into a serious tone, the smile removed from his face and also flashed his own anger towards Shredder. "She loved Hamato Yoshi, and you couldn't accept that. Because of your own obsession to never come to term that she chose to be with the one you once called 'brother' and not you, you ended becoming her killer. And, after all, if you couldn't have her, no one can. Not even Hamato Yoshi, himself. But, on bright side, you finally shown your true colors to the whole Clan, before you slaughtered the-"

The hand to his throat slammed him even harder against the wall, the back of his head bleeding from the combination of his enemy's strength and the harden surface of the bomb.

"Silence your tongue, or I'll part it from you!" Saki roared, barely able to contain his anger any longer the more Leo stalled.

"Your words are empty to me, as are your threats. You say you're going to kill me, show that you're going to torture me and the moment I tell you where my master is, you'll rob me of my life. And yet, all you've done is tighten your hold on my throat. You've tainted your honor for so many years of your past and present sins, that not even your own words will speak of truth and your actions will reveal your lies and treachery."

While he continued speaking, his left-hand slowly dug into his belt, slowly pulling out his only arrow he has yet to use. His brothers took notice of his hand, which he then did slow sign language that all will be able to get what he's telling them to do:  _Get ready._

"And since I'm not going to tell you where Hamato Yoshi is, you might as well kill me! And since I don't care really much if I live or die, how about I assist you on that promise you made?" He leaned his throat forward, digging the tip nearly a centimeter deeper into his neck and letting more blood glide down the hidden blade. All eyes widened in pure shock.

_What are you doing?! You're going to kill yourself!_

_'Unless he thinks I'm bluffing, I need to keep his attention on me before I make my move, or he'll notice the arrow. Thank god that the mutagen made our skins thick.'_ He couldn't tell what expression Saki is giving, but he knows that he has his full attention. The blue-masked turtle returned the creepy-smile on his face. "Well? I'm waiting," he continued. "You want me dead so badly, go ahead and do it! I can't stop you and even if I could, I won't stop you! But, before you do away with me, I only have one thing to say to you:  _-before he said what he wanted, Leo spit at the mask-covering the human's face, blood trailing down the metal-mask.-_   **Kare wa meiyo nashi de ikiru to iu na de shinudeshou** (He will die in the name of living without honor)."

Shredder's eyes flared in fury.

"Say goodbye to your brothers, Fool!" He pulled out the claw-like blades from the wall, and just as he was about to impale the blue-masked turtle...

_**SPLAT!** _

Something big and wet caught the attention of Shredder, Leo and the other turtles and when they all turned their gazes to see what it was that distracted the human from executing Leonardo… None could believe what they're seeing: Before them, covering in the glow aquamarine-colored liquid of the mutagen, was a large snakehead fish with hands, gasping for breath and reaching out towards Oroku Saki.

"H-Help… M-M-Me…!" The creature gasped, his dark-yellow eyes widen as he struggles for breath… Leonardo knows that voice belongs to Xever Montes… Who has now been mutated into a humanoid-snakehead fish mutant. His appearance truly has stunned them all, especially for the Shredder.

"What is this?!" He asked himself, unknowingly released his hold on the blue-masked turtle as he took notice of a larger-figure beside the snakehead fish mutant, also covered in the mutagen and reaching out for the human… Revealing to being an oversized dog-mutant, an Akita Inu to be precise. "Xever? Bradford?"

Leo immediately made a grab for his swords that were on the ground, set them in their scabbards and finally took the chance he was waiting for.

"Haa!" He brought the arrow up, colliding it with the three claws of Shredder's gauntlet, who realized his mistake and noticed the mini-bomb on the arrow. His blind-eye and brownish-black eye stared into Leo's Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes, who glared back at him with a satisfied smirk on his face.  **"Sayōnara!"**

The bomb went off, releasing a thick smoke the moment it ignited and startled the Shredder from the close explosion near his face. The turtle in blue gazed back to his stunned brothers, his eyes telling them a very clear message: Go! They vanished into the shadows, swiftly and silently scaling down the fire escape ladder of the building and entering a manhole cover to the sewers.

**"NOOOOOOO!"**

Even down in the sewers, they all heard Oroku Saki's fury that they got away from him. And with them, the information to where Hamato Yoshi is hiding. Coming from the rear, Leonardo constantly kept constant visual over his shell, to ensure they're not being followed as they head for the Lair.

_You're never going to pull a stunt like that, again! You hear?!_

_'Oh, yeah, no problem. I mean, what's the likely percentage that a futuristic enemy will force me to put my own life on the line, in order to protect my team and give them the perfect distraction to save themselves?'_

_You know I'm not talking about that! I'm referring to your little suicidal stunt! You're not going to pull that shit, ever! Understand?!_

_'…No promises… And you know that. But now isn't the time to discuss it… Not after what happened, tonight.'_

* * *

They all made it back to the Lair: Injured, beaten and even mortified on what just happened. Splinter and April has aided each of their wounds the moment they entered the Lair, relieved that they stopped the Kraang from releasing the bomb into the city but horrified of their encounter with Splinter's greatest enemy. And even after that, none of the teens seemed to be any better or worse.

"You were all very lucky." Their father complimented, as he returned to the living room after putting away his own medical supplies back into his room.

"Well, I think we define that word differently, Sensei." If rage fueled Raph was something to expect, pouting quiet Raph is another story for his brothers and father.

"Few have ever faced the Shredder and survived." The humanoid-rat may seem calm, but the father is actually freaking out on the inside and very much relieved that all of his children, including April, returned to the Lair and survived today's challenge

"He was just  _so_  fast." Sad, down Mikey is a major issue when he isn't goofing off, let alone trying to do something that'll set a fire into his brothers that would make them get over an ordeal.

"It was like he was everywhere at once." Don's brain seemed to still be processing on how could it be physically possible for a human to move that quickly at once, all while taking on four mutated-enhanced humanoid-turtles. "You were right, Sensei. We were being overconfident."

Leo finally came out from his room, having to put Karasu away to let her sleep in a more calming environment and not get in the middle of serious business.

"There are some things we're just not ready for. However, that no longer matters." Everyone stared at the wrapping around his neck, which he found to be very uncomfortable.  _'Are they going to keep doing that, every single time I get injured?'_

_After what your brothers just witnessed, along with your father and April hearing what you just pulled, they have every right to keep a close eye on you. In fact, you better get used to their gaze locking on to you, because you'll probably be getting that for a good while!_

"Leonardo is correct." All eyes went to Splinter. His Reddish-brown eyes held a flame, a fire long ago was forged by the pain of loss and the betrayal of the one he once known as 'brother'. "It is clear now that the Shredder is a problem that will not go away."

_'As if he thought that method would work, when he moved to New York fifteen years ago.'_

_**Alpha right, correct still, Pup.** _

"So prepare yourselves, my sons. Because as of this moment…"

_'It doesn't matter, anymore. Because right now…'_

**_"We are at war…"_ **

**TBC**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *:…Yeah, I wasn't really into the way Pete was in the show. I mean, seriously?! How can he fly with just a few feathers on his arms, with large human-hands and more of a human-body than an actual Pigeon?! So, because of that, Pete in my story will be from the TMNT IDW Comic. Have no idea why they couldn't just do something similar from his original version from the comic, or to at least give him actual wings that looks plausible for him to be able to fly with their version of Pete?
> 
> *: Yes, people, that's morse code. For those who get confused: The commas are to separate the letter, the regular click is for the dot and the clicks with '~' is for the dash.
> 
> I actually found that I'm a bit more active on story writing, when I'm on my breaks and lunch at work. I do also write them sometimes on my days off, but I try to get myself to relax from the stress of work.
> 
> Also… After two years working as a Courtesy Clerk and, with some of our Checkers leaving and/or quitting, there's a possibility I'll be promoted to becoming a Checker. And since most of the other Checkers don't like doing the closing-shift, it'll be a win-win for everybody, so long I don't screw it up… So, wish me luck, guys! And don't worry, I'll still be doing Fanfiction.
> 
> R&R


	11. The Effect of Panic

**Three Weeks Later; May Nineteenth, 2012…**  
"Again!" Splinter ordered his sons, which is to have Leonardo and Raphael flip Donatello and Michelangelo over their shoulders when they charge to attack their older-brothers. Normally, they wouldn't object or complain but when your sensei makes you repeat the same kata and fighting style over and over, which lasts through the whole night and doesn't even give them a chance to rest to catch their breaths… Then, yeah, they'd be complaining right now, if they weren't gasping for breath.

For over three weeks, since they recovered from their encounter with the Shredder, Master Splinter decided they won't be out patrolling, let alone going up to the surface, and are to remained in the Lair and train... And since then, they've done nothing but training, with little time to eat or rest. Leonardo didn't know what came over his Sensei, but he figured that their fight with Oroku Saki must've clouded his mind with fear that the next time they faced him, they would end up killed... That, and possibly had nightmares of his fears projecting into his head of what might or could happen.

And the eldest-son didn't like the decision Splinter is having them do: His brothers never trained longer than their normal training session would be, not like he has done from the extra training sessions he went through. Not only that, but they also are struggling to stay awake and for their bodies to keep going on whatever little food they had hours ago.

He hadn't even fed Karasu in nearly two weeks, which splinter has been doing in his place and is missing every moment he wanted to spend with her as she grew. She looks to be the size of a two week old crow but shows to progress normally as a raven would, and is now in the habit of hopping and walking around the Lair before going back to Leo's room to sleep in her nest. Clever bird even learned how to pull the Shoji doors open and close, along with turning doorknobs if she's able to climb to reach for its height. Within two weeks, she'll start practicing her flying and in between her fifth and sixth weeks of and, she's free to be on her own.

But, with Splinter making them train without rest for three weeks straight, Leo won't be able to help her fly or even start teaching her to glide. His body is also suffering from the lack of recuperating his energy, and is now running on non-stop boost of adrenaline.

Donatello and Michelangelo charged for the blue-masked turtle and Raphael, both whom flipped them over their shoulders and slammed then on their shells, all gasping for air.

"There is no intention in your strikes!" Splinter yelled, glaring at his struggling sons. "Do it again! We will practice all night if we have to!"

A low rumble Left Leo's chest, glaring at his Sensei for his outburst and demanding to do more training… Sort of a shocker to hear from Leonardo, himself, of him not wanting to keep training.

_'If he keeps this up, we'll end up blacking out in the middle of training. Or worse? Our bodies could give out and put us in an ill state, in order to regain energy lost.'_

_Normally, the best thing to do is to keep pushing to satisfy Father's expectations... However, him working the others to death with no proper time to rest, is those time you're right to get angry at his choice._

**_...Agreed. Alpha forcing Pup and Kins to breaking point. Continue, and death comes long before next encounter with Enemy._ **

"We have been practicing all night." Donatello told his sensei, barely able to get back on his feet but unable to hide the exhaustion in his tone. Beside him, he and the others heard snoring sounds on the ground, coming from Michelangelo, muttering about pizza… Which sounded so good right about now, that Leo didn't care if he'll throw it back up, so long he finally gets food into his stomach.

"Wake him up!" Splinter ordered Raphael, who smiled and cracked his knuckles.

"Gladly…" Was his response, as he reached for his brother's shoulders and tossed him over his shoulders again, with enough force to snap the youngest-turtle from his sleep.

"Ahh! Shredder's here!" Mikey screamed, panic clear in his baby-blue eyes from the thought Shredder was attacking him when he was having a few seconds of peaceful sleep. Leo sent a glare over to Raph, before kneeling beside his youngest-brother.

"Relax," he reassured in a gentle tone. "You were just having a nightmare." The orange-masked turtle still seemed scared, but trust his oldest-brother and allowed Leo to pull him back on his feet.

"Aren't we all?" Raphael muttered.

"Sensei, can we rest for a sec?" The purple-masked ninja asked, still seemed out of breath when he spoke. Leo's worry grew for his brothers' health.

_'Lack of food, rest, and not enough water intake is starting to take its effect on Don. If he keep this up, his body will burn out and force him into a fever in order to stay warm! And soon, it's going to get through Raph and Mikey as well! Sensei needs to give them a break, right now!'_

"'Rest'?" Splinter repeated, but it's clear on his face he isn't going to be giving Don his request. "Hmm, the Shredder will not rest, until you are all dead!"

_ …Not really much for encouragement to have you all to keep training. _

_**Try making Alpha see reason, Pup.** _

_'As if that's going to do much to change his mind.'_ "Sensei, we've been training nonstop for weeks with hardly any sleep. They need a break!" As if to prove it, Donatello and Michelangelo appeared more drowsy and seemed ready to even sleep while standing on their feet.

"Oh, like you don't?" Raphael questioned, seemed rather angered that Leo wasn't including himself with the rest of the team when he, also, is exhausted and didn't look any better than they do. In fact, he knows for a fact that while they slept, Leo force himself to meditate as a substitute for sleep and was the first to start training when Splinter would gather them back into the dojo. He also, as always, wasn't eating much as they were, which he knows is their father's doing for pushing their leader near his breaking point.

Leo knows that the lack of sleep would make his younger-twin prone to snap quicker and an argument to turn a bit more physical than it normally does. While the leader's patience would drain when not getting enough sleep of his own when being challenged, he tried answering his brother as calmly as he could.

"You three aren't used to long extensive training like I have," he explained. "And because of that, I don't need to take breaks as much."

"Is that so?" Raphael clearly isn't taking the answer well. "Ah, well, then, I'll  _give_  you a break."

_**Pup!** _

_Move, now!_

Immediately, ignoring the protest in his muscles, Leonardo backflipped away from the strike he never intended to happen from Master Splinter. While he landed without taking the hit, his three brothers weren't so fortunate and they all landed hard on their shells. Rage boiled in the blue-masked turtle's blood, as he glared up at his master while kneeling.

"If I were the Shredder, none of you would be breathing right now. Understand?" And once again, Splinter chose to use threats and ignore Leo's reasoning of his brothers' health being an excuse to finally rest. He couldn't stand it anymore and if what he's going to say doesn't make him see reason, then he's going to do something he'll either regret in the future or make Splinter wish he never made him leader. And while both his Conscious and Instinct would protest of the decision he'd be doing, this time, because he's doing this for his brothers, they're going to allow him to do so.

"…So, you decide the best way to prepare us to fight him is to start acting like the Shredder, himself?" He growled out, ignoring the protest in his legs when getting back up to his feet. His brothers are eye-wide shocked on what Leo just said to their father, who also seemed a bit taken back but only glared down at the blue-masked turtle.

 **"** **Nani tte itta no**  (What did you just say) **?"** Leonardo has seen the angry side of Master Splinter a couple of times and, very rarely,  _he_  would be the cause for those moments. And when he's like this, the turtle know what to expect to happen, besides that the humanoid-rat tends to speak in his birth of tongue at times.

"I just compared you to your brother, on how you're acting like him and making us train with barely any sleep or food."

 **"Watashi wa kare no yōna monode wanai**  (I am nothing like him) **!"** His voice raised, worrying the other turtles for their big brother.

"You say that, but you're so blind by your own thoughts that you don't see what you're doing to your own sons!" Leo snarled, part of his lips pulled back to show off his fangs to the side.

For the first time in so long, actually the first  _ever_ , Hamato Leonardo talked back to his sensei, Hamato "Splinter" Yoshi. His brothers were so shocked, they didn't have any word to even think about saying as the blue-masked turtle stood up for them towards their father. And while Hamato Yoshi has dealt with back talks in the past, having Leonardo do so before him was something he never expect to happen… But his own fears from his nightmares of Shredder, killing his sons, his  _babies_ , prove to be very powerful to prevent his mind to open his mind and accept what his eldest child is trying to make him see.

 **"Shureddā to no tsugi no deai no mae ni, mina wa kunren suru hitsuyō ga arimasu** (You all need to train, before your next encounter with Shredder) **."** Leonardo forced himself to try and calm down, though his glare remained stern and clear to not back down.

"That may be true. However, what you seem to have forgotten, is that resting is also part of training. Our bodies need a certain amount of time to regain strength and energy, before they can continue to function properly in training." On cue, Mikey instantly went back to sleep, landing on top of Raph who glared down at the youngest-turtle but didn't shove him off of him. "We're done with training, for today."

Splinter's tail twitched, his Reddish-brown eyes glaring with disapproval.

"I have not given you my blessing to stop training. We continue training!" The growl returned from the blue-masked turtle.

"You may not give us your okay to stop, but you did make me leader. Which, in terms, puts me in charge on how to take care of my team. So, as leader, they have my permission to rest."

It was a good thing Michelangelo is sleeping, otherwise he'd be as freaked out as his older brothers are when their father had a disturbing look on his face that could, as Leo as said, be compared to Shredder's expression. The fifty year-old humanoid-rat took the few steps to Leonardo, standing right in front of him... Then, he grabbed for the strap over the fifteen year-old's plastron, pulling him to almost be face-to-face with the man who raised him and his brothers for over fifteen years.

"I am your  _master_ ," he snarled out. "You are to  _obey **me**_." The blue-masked turtle has a certain feeling he knew was going to happen, but even then, he isn't afraid of what the consequences will result in. All that matters to him, is making sure his brothers are safe from any threat that can't take on... Including their own father.

"I only obey to the one who doesn't act like an enemy in my eyes. One, who won't end up endangering my brothers' health and safety. And I'll stand up to whoever harms my brothers in any way that'll put them in danger, including you...  _Master._ "

_You went a bit too far on that._

_'Doesn't matter how far I went. He needs to hear it, whether he wants to or not. After all, not many people want to listen to the truth, when they don't to accept what they're wrong about.'_

Leonardo can literally see the anger burning inside Splinter's eyes, feel the trembling in the hand grasping firmly to the strap that held his swords' scabbards to his shell and hear the rage breathing through the adult's angry panting. Then, just as he expected to occur...

_***SLAP!*** _

The sound echoed throughout the dojo, waking Michelangelo from his sleep and witness what he and the others never thought to see at all. Their sensei, their own  _father,_ struck their big brother. He just lost his temper and slapped his eldest-son, a deep dark bruise forming on his right-cheek... Blood trailing down the darkened colored skin.

A moment passed, until Hamato Yoshi seemed to finally gain some clarity on what just happened... His Reddish-brown eyes lost the anger in their gaze and replaced with horror, disbelief at the bruise, the bleeding  _he_  implanted onto one of his sons and the hand that was the cause of the wound to appear on Leonardo's face. And right in front of his younger-sons, to top it all that.

He immediately released the eldest-turtle, who didn't make any move, let alone uttered a sound when the humanoid-rat slapped him. All he did was lift his gaze back to his sensei when the slap forced his head to turn to the side... Then, let out a tiring sigh of disappointment.

"A part of me hoped you would avoid any physical lashing, and truly see what was going on right in front of you... Such a shame." He turned away from his still stunned sensei and kneeled before his also stunned brothers, gently urging Mikey to his still sore-feet. He gazed back to Splinter, no sign of any anger towards his sensei but still held the determination on watching over his brothers' well being. "They're going to rest, right now. We shall resume training, once their bodies and minds have rested."

He didn't bother to wait and hear what Splinter has to say, as he helped the youngest-turtle for his bedroom. When he returned, Raph and Donnie seem to finally allow the exhaustion to take over and are passed out in deep slumber, Splinter no longer in the dojo and most likely retired to his own room to rest or meditate. He helped each of his brothers to their bedrooms, ignoring the protest in his legs and the sting from the bruise on his cheek, before he finally went to his own room to rest.

Once inside, a small-shadow figure hopped towards him and nuzzled against his legs.

 _ **"Leo! I missed you!"**_ Karasu greeted, gentle grazing the smooth green-skin of her 'brother' and waiting patiently for him to scoop her into his arms and nuzzle beak with him.

"I missed you, too, Kara." He replied, gently stroking the soft feathers from the top of her head down to her tail, which always soothes the raven/crow-hybrid. He made his way to his bed, laying the three weeks old bird into her nest before forcing his body to lay down and relax his muscles.

 _ **"He hit you, didn't he?"**_ Karasu questioned, getting out of her nest and resting herself on top of his plastron and staring at the bruise on his cheek, eyes flashing in concern from the blood trailing down the dark-colored skin.

"He was going to make us keep training through the day," he answered. "I had to stand up to him, otherwise my brothers' healths would deteriorate more than from lack of energy and their bodies would force them into fevers... This is what happens when you let fear cloud your judgement, and not seeing the damage you're causing into others."

Karasu slowly crawled forward until she was face-to-face with her 'brother', staring at the bruise until she gently brushed her black-beak across the wounded skin.

_**"Did Papa say he's sorry?"** _

Her question brought a small-smile to appear on Leo's face, finding it very intriguing of the black bird calling Master Splinter as 'Papa', no doubt using the title from being uncertain to call him as her 'father' or 'grandfather'. She also didn't know what title to call his brothers by at first, until she finally given them the title as her 'older-brothers'. Although, while feeling a bit odd around April, also feeling what Leo did about the human girl, has already dubbed her as her 'sister'.

Leonardo didn't say anything to answer her question, only running his fingers gently through her feathers and making low, purr-like sounds through his chest. Karasu knew he does that to reassure her everything's going to be alright, which she took to heart.

"Let's get some sleep, okay?" Leo suggested, lifting her off his chest and back into her nest. "I'll probably have some time to teach you how to glide, before I have to go back to training." Her black-eyes flashed with joy, let out a few chirp of glee, before getting herself comfortable in her nest.

As his companion fell into slumber, Leo stared up at his ceiling, many thoughts going through his head at once that made it almost impossible for him to sleep.

**_Pup must rest. Need all strength to continue training._ **

_'I would, but this headache won't let me sleep from what's been going on for weeks. Not to mention, the pain in my nerves coursing throughout my body preventing me from relaxing.'_

_You may have to hit the pressure points in your body, if you're unable to fall asleep._

_'...Right.'_ Leo raised a hand to his right-shoulder, placed his pointing-finger to the spot in-between his neck and shoulder and, with enough pressure held for a few seconds, the darkness took over and is now embraced within the comfort of sleep.

* * *

**Hours Later…**   
_"Aaahhh!"_

_"Come here you!"_

_**Crash!** _

Leonardo's eyes instantly snapped open and sat up in his bed, his muscles crying in protest from the immediate movement. Karasu, who also woken up from the noise, made a yelp of her own and jumped to the edge of her nest.

 _ **"What's that noise? Are we under attack?"**_ As Leo rubbed the sleep from his eyes with his right-hand, he reached for the raven/crow-hybrid with his left and gently stroke her feathers in reassurance.

"It's alright, Karasu." He mumbled, still in the process on waking up. "It's just Raph and Mikey… Who I'm betting just ticked our hot-headed brother and provoked him to attack."

 _ **"Why Older-Brother Mikey want Older-Brother Raph to attack him?"**_ Leo held his left-arm out, allowing Karasu to rest on his arm until he finally got to his feet and let her on his left-shoulder.

"Mikey doesn't intend for Raph to attack him… He just finds it amusing to see how quick he could get our red-masked brother to snap."

_**Crash!** *Break!*_

_"Got you, you little pest!"_

_"Oh no, Raph got me! Leo! Don! Help meeeeh!"_

Leo shook his head, as he slowly made his way for the door. In the living room, Raphael had Michelangelo pinned beneath him, forcing his left-leg backwards to make the orange-masked turtle to keep crying out "uncle" multiple times. Neither of the two turtles saw their big brother and Karasu watching the scene before them.

"Think we should go help, Karasu?" The raven/crow-hybrid cocked her head from side-to-side, before letting out a low-chirp.

_**"Older-Brother Mikey asked for it... Still, best make sure Older-Brother Raph doesn't hurt him too badly."** _

Leo smiled at the bird on his shoulder.

"Wise choice for words, Karasu." He turned to face his brother, then let out a few coughs looks enough to be heard through Mikey's cries of submission. "Whatever reason you have that you believe to be justified to pull his leg off, Raph, please remember that he's your brother and should be using every strength and energy on improving your skills to take down our actual enemies."

Both stared up at their big brother, till Raph finally pulled himself off of Mikey.

"Pull another one of your Prank-enstein crap on me again, and I'll make sure you bend until you become a living origami." He stared back to his brother, his Emerald-green eyes locking on to the bruise of Leo's cheek. "You should have Donnie take a look at that bruise, before he has a cow." Leo knew it was his own way to show his concern and, just by looking into Raph's eyes, there's still some traces of discomfort from witnessing their own father to strike one of his sons out of anger… Something that  _he_ , himself, has done in the past and still trying to control his own anger.

Leo flashed him a small-smile.

"I will," he assured. "I was actually on my way to see Don to get some worms for Karasu." The black bird let out a few chirps of anticipation, lightly hopping on her feet to show her eagerness when the blue-masked turtle brought up worms.

"I still don't see why you won't let her eat the same food we now eat, instead of keeping her stuck on worms." Mikey said, coming over to pet the bird and nearly getting his fingers nipped by her black-beak.

"We've already been over this, Mikey." Leo said, a hint of annoyance of his brother getting on his nerve on how to care for the small black-bird. "Is Don in his lab?" He didn't wait to hear the answer, already catching the sound of sparks within the genius turtle's lab and already heading for the doors.

"Yeah, been there since he finished breakfast." Raph answered, who went to get Spike and sat him on his left-shoulder while following his shorter but older-twin. Inside the lab, they saw the second youngest-turtle kneeling behind what looks to be an old go-kart, connected to three other go-karts. Raph shook his head from the sight before him and his brothers. "You're still working on that go-kart?"

"It's not a go-kart." Don replied, pushing the metal-mask over his head that has shielded his face from the sparks of the blowtorch while he was fixing up certain areas of the vehicle that had terrible cracks that could result in oil-leaking or parts to pop off. "It's an all-terrain patrol buggy with detachable sidecars."

_ …So, it's a patrol go-kart buggy. _

_**Uncertain. Don't appear safe, even if Omega-Brother Donatello made it to be of use to Pup's pack.** _

"Dude, hasn't Splinter been pushing us hard enough from training us to the ground?" Mikey asked, seems very excited about the "patrol buggy" Don's making but more concern on why his third older-brother would be pushing himself to invent instead of resting like the rest of them. "You gotta find a way to relax."

"We all deal with stress in different ways, Mikey." Leo explained to Mikey, taking a moment to stare into the blueprints to see what Don has equipped to the vehicle and if there are certain parts he needs to help improve the patrol buggy.

"Yeah. This is how I deal." Don said, smiling from how totally relax he feels from working on the patrol buggy.

"And this is how I deal." Leo's ears picked up the sound of water and, as Mikey reached for whatever it was that was making the sound, his Conscience, Instinct and the feeling in his gut gave him one word of command to follow:  _ **Duck!**_

Instantly, the moment the orange-masked turtle tossed what appears to be a yellow water balloon, Leo ducked in time for it to pass him and hit Don in the face. Karasu screeched from the sudden dodge of the water balloon, taking shelter between the back of Leo's head and top of his shell. The purple-masked turtle appeared stunned by the water balloon for a few seconds, then tossed the metal-mask off his face and dashed for the turtle who threw the water balloon at him.

"You're next, Leo!" Mikey playfully warned, running from Donnie's grab for him. "Dr. Prank-enstein makes house call! Aaaah!" The two ran out of the lab, leaving the two eldest turtles alone in the lab.

 _ **"Leo?"**_ Karasu chirped, slowly coming out of her hiding spot but remains laying on his right-shoulder.  _ **"Is it safe?"**_

Leo let out a few clicking chirps of his own, stroking her feathers with his left-hand.

"It's alright, Kara." He gently reassured. "They're only roughhousing. Now, let's get you those worms." The reminding of worms made her perk right back up from her startled moment with the water balloon, nearly hopping off his shoulder if he didn't grab her on time and lead the both of them to the pull full of algae and worms.

As she helped herself into grabbing the worms with her beak from the algae, Raph came beside his brother, setting Spike down beside the bird to let his turtle spend time with the raven/crow-hybrid.

"You going to treat that bruise, yet?" Raph asked, glaring at the dark-color on his brother's cheek that shouldn't be on him in the first place. Leo prevented himself from rolling his eyes. Raph is making sure he doesn't avoid treating the wound he promised to take care of, with Donatello preoccupied on getting Mikey for the water balloon.

"Do you mind watching Karasu for a moment, while I go treat it?" Raph jerked his head to where the first-aid kit sat on Don's workbench.

"Go ahead."

Leo made his way to the workbench and opened the first-aid kit, finding some disinfectant ointment inside the medical kit and applying it to the wound on his right-cheek. It stung, but the pain isn't something he hadn't dealt with. While treating his wound, he watch as Raphael kept his full attention on Spike and Karasu. He may have a serious temper, but his proven to be very responsible when caring for other animals and pet-sitting. While eating, Karasu seems to enjoy Spike's company and even offered him a few worms to see if he's hungry. As for Spike… Well, besides letting her catch him some worms for him to eat and allowing her to lay beside him, he didn't really seem to show much reaction but Leo can tell he, also, enjoys her company just as much.

"I can't believe what you did," his brother's voice caught Leo's attention. "At the dojo… You talked  _back_  to Master Splinter, stood up against him, for  _us_." He turned his head to stare at his blue-masked twin, his Emerald-green eyes still reflecting the shock from their last training session with Splinter. "...Why would you do that?"

"...You guys are my teammates. But, what's more? You three are my brothers." There was no hesitation, no regret or even second-guessing to his explanation to Raph's question. "As both leader and the eldest-sibling of the Hamato children, it's my job to ensure your health and safety aren't in any danger. Whoever dares to threaten your guys' well being, I will intervene to the perpetrator... Even if it's Sensei,  _himself_."

Raph was at a loss for words.

_'He's willing to that far for us? Even if it means Splinter would punish him?'_

"I can tell that you weren't expecting something like that to ever happen." Leo said, kneeling to his knees when Karasu hopped towards him and wants to be picked up by her 'big brother'.

"Well, yeah." Always being honest, which is one of Raphael's strong qualities that's something both good and bad to gain. "I mean, you follow every teaching, training and even rules Father would do or follow."

Leo let out a low chuckle.

 _'Not sure if I should take it as a compliment or not, but I'll take it as such.'_ "Yeah, well unfortunately, Master Splinter has forgotten some rules of his own and lessons he neglected for weeks."

Karasu lifted her head up and nuzzled her beak with Leo's, gently grazing her beak against his skin and letting out cooing sound, expressing her sorrow from the reminder of the past not being with her big brother and always sensing dark emotions throughout the Lair.

"…Did you really meant what you told Master Splinter? About him becoming like Shredder, and all that?" Raph also lifted Spike back into his arms, as the two eldest left the lab and went for the living room. A flash of sadness can be seen in Leo's Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes.

"I hated myself for having to tell Sensei that, but he has to understand that keeping us underground and enforcing so much extensive training on us isn't helping. By not allowing us time to rest properly and pressuring us with threats as our enemy would, it damages our bodies to function as it should and our minds shall be poisoned with fear misdirecting us."

_Even though that may be true, Father's decision on keeping you all down is probably a good thing._

"So, you think we should stop doing training...? To  _ignore_ Master Splinter's orders?  _-The red-masked turtle had a look of shock on his face, pretending to be horrified.-_ Who are you, and what have you done to my brother?"

Leo couldn't help but laugh at his brother's playful antics. Karasu cocked head from side-to-side, confused on what's going on.

"Very funny, Raph." He gently stroked the small-bird's feathers, silently telling her everything's alright. "While some rebellion would help ease some of our stress, I'm afraid we're gonna have to keep training."

"Figures..." Raphael muttered, disappointed by his brother's answer that ruined their little moment of bonding they were just having.

"I know this is killing you and the others, especially with it getting away with time we wish to spend too rest, Sensei isn't wrong that we need to be ready the next time we cross path with the Shredder."

Donatello and Michelangelo both returned from chasing each other, having to catch the last sentence Leo just said to Raph.

"I hate to say it, but the fact that we've been laying low, might be the only reason why we're still alive." Don said.

"Which means, until we're ready, we stay down here."

"Unfortunately, that's not an option." The four brothers turned and saw April entering the Lair, a smirk on her face and waving her phone in the air, "Teenspyapps" written on the screen.

* * *

 _ **"We're meeting Shredder tonight. He's got a plan to destroy the turtles."**_ The first voice belong to the leader of the Purple Dragon, Fong.

 _ **"How? He doesn't even know where they are."**_ The second voice being the biggest of the three, Sid.

_**"He says they're in the sewers somewhere, and that's all he needs to know to wipe them out."** _

The Hamato Clan are clearly stunned to hear what the leader of the Purple Dragon just said. How could Oroku Saki figure out where they're taking shelter, in just three weeks, since their encounter? Surely, not even the number of ninjas he brought from Japan would've been capable on scoping the entire city of New York in such short time.

"Our home is no longer safe." Splinter wasn't too thrilled from the realization that Shredder found out where they're hiding and plans to kill them off, somehow. "The Shredder must be stopped."

That part, Splinter's right about, but doesn't seem to appear confident that his sons are ready to face their enemy again.

"True, Sensei, but we don't know what his plan is and how to stop it." While Leo faced the humanoid-rat, his hearing caught the sound of water and knew that Mikey is preparing to throw a water balloon at him, just as he promised he would do earlier. Swiftly bringing a small-knife from underneath the wrapping of his left-arm, he tossed the small-blade behind his right-shoulder and the water balloon burst from the perfect shot the blue-masked made with it.  _'Sorry, Mikey, but right now isn't the time for fun and games.'_

"We  _have_  to go topside, and find out what they're planning." Raph stated, ready to go into battle.

**_Beta-Brother Raphael, correct. Only way to find out what Enemy plans for Pup and pack._ **

"Raph is right," he confirmed. "There's no other way." He can feel that Splinter didn't want them to go back to the surface, but even he knows that they have to figure out how Shredder is going to get rid of them when he doesn't know their exact location of the sewers they're in. Karasu gently tapped her beak to his plastron, gaining his attention.

 _ **"Me come, Big Brother?"**_ She asked, shifting her wings a bit and letting out a few cawing sound. He knows how much she wants to join him on missions, including going topside to see the surface world that'll soon be hers to live in and wanting to practice gliding. The blue-masked turtle shook his head.

"Sorry, Karasu. You need to stay." He told her, ignoring the confused gazes of the others. The small-bird let out a few caws of disappointment, firmly slapping her feet on his shoulder.

 _ **"But, me can help. Me can spy from higher distance, and won't get caught! Please, let me**_ ** _help, Leo!"_** Leo was going to protest, again, when a sudden idea came to mind.

_'…She can spy from afar distant and even if she were to be discovered, they won't know she's with us.'_

_Still, she can't fly and you can't let her be on her own. Besides, she doesn't even know how to glide, yet!_

_'No, she doesn't know how to glide… Yet.'_  He turned to the redhead human. "April, I need you to do something for me."

* * *

 **Near Evening, At the Abandoned Church…  
** "For a church that was supposed to be abandoned, you'd think the other humans would be wondering if it came back or why it's being active, again." Donnie wondered, watching as the three Purple Dragons head inside of the church, its bells ringing. Leo was the first to head for the ground, hiding behind a corner of the building just across the street from the church in front of them.

A few sniffing in the air, and he knew that the information he gained from a couple of crows and even a stray cat are correct. Silently, he hand-signaled his brothers to come over.

"This is the place," he whispered. Behind him, he can tell Michelangelo stood behind him from the hand on his shoulder that neither felt rough or having any callous.

"Donnie, you're crowding me." Raphael whispered, glaring at the purple-masked turtle closing in on his personal-space.

"Sorry." Followed by a few footsteps going backwards, the sound of shell hitting a trashcan came next and the sound startled the youngest-turtle into screaming and jumping on his feet, both his hands clenching onto Leo's right-arm and earning glances from his three brothers.

"Sorry." He apologized, still a bit jumpy from the sounds startling him. "All that Splinter talk about how we're not ready has me thinking, maybe we're in over our heads."

That earned him a firm punch to the head by Raph.

"You're  _always_  in over your head," the second-eldest turtle stated.

"Now, I'm saying we're  _all_  are! And that scares me." Leo set a hand on Mikey's shoulder.

"It's okay to be scared, Mikey." He reassured, turning back to the street to keep visual eyes out for any sign of Foot ninjas… Only for his hearing to catch the sound of a dog's growling and large footsteps coming for them. "However, now isn't the time to let fear take over at the moment." He already knew who was coming for them, even before the figure came into view to see who dared to spy at Shredder's hideout.

"You should  _all_  be afraid." Before them, an humanoid-Akita Inu stood before them. By height comparison, he'd be about a foot taller than Splinter. He also appears to have some particle of stones embedded into his body, including the top-half of his back and parts of his shoulders. His left-hand twice the size and more muscular than his right, that's incased in stone. His tail, unlike Akita Inu's tails, wasn't curled and let down, most likely to help with his balance when walking. And his eyes, no longer of a human, but black with red-eyes glaring down at them, promising to kill them where they stand.

"Bradford."

"Rad-brad!"

Leo didn't bother to glare at Mikey for miscalling their enemy, only kept his eyes on the large mutated-human/dog before him.

"Look what I found, four soon-to-be-ex-turtles." His voice is rougher, mixed with low growls as he speaks, flashing the mixture of fangs and human-teeth to the turtles, as he moved forward on them.

"I'm sure glad it's okay to be scared."

"You and me both."

The fear in Don and Mikey's voice made Leo's instincts kick in. He pulled his swords out, glaring at Bradford and standing protectively in front of his two youngest brothers, growling back at him.

"Panic any more, you two, and you'll end up dead." He warned and, without any hesitation, made the first move to attack him.

_ Stop! You don't know what he can do! _

_**Fall back! Retreat! Return with Kins back to Den!** _

_'Too late for that!'_

He ran forward to his left and sprang up, attacking from above to get him to block. Which he did with his right-arm, the stones protecting him from receiving any damage. Leo flung himself off and dodged for the left that he knew Bradford would use to attack him, landing on time. Only to realize that not only is Bradford strong in defense now, but his speed hasn't been reduced from his bulky body and barely had enough time to dodge a second time from the same hand that the tip of the stones in his hand nearly scraped into the pads of his knees. He backflipped himself back to his brothers.

_ Still think you guys can still take him down, now? _

_'Alright! I get it! One-on-one, he's still too powerful to face on our own and thanks to his mutation, he seemed to have improved in strength and defense. Let's see what he does, when fighting more than one opponent.'_ "Attack together!" He ordered, before they all separated when their enemy tried punching them and ended up impaling the ground.

Raph tried attacking to the Akita Inu's right, only Bradford to hold him back his weapons with his right-hand, the stone once again shielding him from injuries. Donnie charged from his own right and jabbed his end of the bō underneath his chin, which only irritated his enemy to swipe for them with his left-hand. Leo tried again to attack from above, both his blades inches away from embedding themselves into Bradford's skull, only for the arm incased in stone to grabbed them on time. He then lifted the turtle up by his swords and attempted to impale him with his left, only for the blue-masked turtle to pull away on time to dodge. Mikey tried using one of the metal-wires of the electricity line to slide down and attack from above, only to be slapped away and roughly land on Donnie.

Leo noticed how out of breath they all are, along with barely able to stay in position to keep fighting and more easily afraid they're in.

_'They're still recovering from the extension training we went through. Their bodies hadn't fully recover their energies.'_

_That's why you need to flee! Now!_

"This is hopeless." Don said to Leo, letting his guard down and giving Bradford the opportunity to attack.

"Move it!" Leo yelled, snapping the two youngest to focus and nearly ended up pummeled to the ground if they didn't dodge on time. "Keep this up, you'll lose more than just your head in battle!"

**_PUP! Get Kins to safety, now!_ **

"Unfortunately, we can't keep fighting any longer."

"Come on, what are we retreating for?" Raph questioned, but didn't bother to hear for answer and charged Bradford again… Which, lead him being shoved away and landing in a dumpster. "…That's a good reason." He grunted, getting out of the dumpster to regroup with his brothers.

"Mikey, smoke!" Donnie cried, not wanting to stay any longer to keep fighting with mutated Bradford. A bit jumpy, Mikey searched for the  _only_  smoke-bomb he carries in his belt and when he finally felt the eggshell, he held it out… Then, because of stress and still exhausted state, the egg slipped from his lack of firm grip in his hand, as he tried catching it, the egg fell to the ground and cracked, only a small puff of smoke escaped.

"What was that?" Clearly, it was the most pathetic thing he ever saw to happen, especially in the middle of a battle that they're trying to retreat from.

"I'm  _stressed!_ " Mikey screamed, unable to contain his composure any longer. "Excuse me if my aim's a little off!"

"Guys!" Leo yelled, pushing him and Don backwards when Bradford made another hit to the ground that was made for them. Raph pulled out his own smoke-bomb with ease.

"How hard is it to hit the ground?" He growled, tossing his smoke-bomb down… Only for that smoke-bomb to hit the gap from a storm drain underneath him and when he kneeled to get it, the thump made from his left-hand forced the eggshell to jerk and slide through the hole it was just in.

"Not so easy, is it?" Mikey questioned, making a point on his end.

Leo has had it.

"That's it!" He yelled, reaching for his smoke-bomb and, this time, without any interruptions or distractions, the eggshell burst open and a large blanket of purple-smoke consumed them. In five seconds, the smoke cleared, the turtles are gone and there are no signs for Bradford to find them. He never knew they scaled the building and head for the nearest manhole-cover, returning to the Lair with shame of their unsuccessful attempt to spy in Shredder's hideout.

* * *

 **Back in the Lair…  
** They all say in the living room, defeated and embarrassed of their loss work Bradford. Leo hunched over where he sat, angered and disappointed himself for being so careless and putting his brothers in a position they weren't ready to do when their bodies weren't at one hundred percent.

Soft footsteps of his sensei brought him to stare up at the humanoid-rat in front of him, his gaze in question on what just happened. The blue-masked turtle never felt more self-loathing towards himself than he ever had this moment, informing Splinter of their failure,  _his_  failure as leader of the team.

"...We couldn't take him." He growled out, turning his gaze away from his sensei and clenching his arms with both of his hands.

"Dogpound was just too powerful." Mikey said, laying on the couch on his stomach.

"'Dogpound'?" Raph questioned, sitting on the top of the couch that faced the entrance of the Lair with his feet on the cushion.

"Yeah. 'Cause, he's a dog and he pounded us into the-."

"We get it, Mikey." The eldest-son cut the youngest-son's sentence, not in the mood to hear another name he came up for an enemy that's been mutated as Dr. Name-enstein.

"Well, with that mutt guarding that place, it doesn't look like we'll be getting anywhere close to that meeting now." Raph stated, not all too happy to that fact.

"Well, maybe we just need to find a new place to hide." Donatello suggested, already admitting defeat. Leo glared at his genius brother.

"And where would we go, exactly, Donnie?" Leo asked, already against the thought of leaving the den he lived in since he was an infant.

"I hear the sewers in Florida are nice this time of season." Donnie held his laptop to face everyone, showing an imagery of Florida on the website. Definitely not what the blue-masked turtle wanted to hear.

"No!" April exclaimed, coming into the Lair with Karasu sitting on her left-shoulder. "I'm not letting you guys give up."

_**…So much determination, She-Pup April holds.** _

_She sure has a strong fire._

_'Indeed, she does... In some way, that fire makes her worthy to be trained into a Kunoichi. However, we're still at a loss on what we need to do and it's barely been a full day our bodies rested from training.'_

_But you guys need to figure out what Shredder is going to do, before night sets in!_

_'Which is a few hours away.'_

_**"Leo!"**_ Karasu chirped in glee and, to the others amusement, hopped off of April's arm and spread her wings, slowly gliding down and landed gently with a hover. She hop-walked towards the blue-masked turtle, making the small hurdle to take her spot on his left-shoulder, nuzzling against his uninjured cheek.  _ **"April's Den is huge! More room than here, and can see so much of city!"**_

Leo lightly chuckled, nuzzling back against the bird.

"Did you behave yourself at April's?" He questioned the bird, earning a few chirps of giggling and bobbing herself in joy.

_**"Me was good. Did as Big Brother told. Me do good?"** _

"I did what you asked me to do, Leo… And, I must say, I'm still baffled on how she just took it all in and learned how to glide, just by watching a YouTube video of birds flying and gliding." April informed the blue-masked turtle, smiling at the sweet sight before her that showed Leo's gentler side.

"It's like I said before, she's a fast learner by observing. And, judging by her demonstration, proves she'll be a great flyer."

Karasu lifted her beak and screeched with glee.

 _ **"Me great flyer! Me be great flyer!"**_ She sang for a moment, until she recalled of the problem that's going on and immediately looked serious to her brother.  _ **"Leo, let me help. Me can help on mission."**_

He still wasn't fond about putting her in harms way, but because of their failure to sneak in and with Bradford able to hear and smell them just outside of the building, Karasu is the only one who can get to the meeting and plant a radio for them to hear. He gave her a firm nod, silently giving her the okay to join.

"I'll spy on the meeting." April's offer pulled him from his silent conversation with Karasu.

Immediately, all of the Hamato voiced out their decision.

"No way!"

"Nuh-uh."

"You can't."

"Forget it."

"Absolutely not!"

She had a look of disappointment, a mixture of disbelief that they don't think she can help them.

"I can do this." She said, not trying to sound as if whining that she's not going to be involved. "You've been training me to be a Kunoichi." Splinter didn't look to be changing his mind, any second at all.

"For a few weeks," he reminded. "And lately, I've been completely focused on training them for weeks, which you haven't done any training during that time."

"...Actually, Sensei, I've been keeping up with my training." Leo's eyes widened a bit, not liking where her conversation is leading to.

_'If she tells them...'_

"How is it that you've continued your training, when I haven't been instructing you for over three weeks, April?" Splinter questioned, both he and his younger-sons' curiosity wanting to know what she's been doing.

Without thinking of what form of consequences there will be on the future, April answered her sensei.

"Leo's been helping me with my training." All eyes went to the blue-masked leader, who didn't look pleased of the sixteen year-old giving away that was supposed to be something private between them.

_'...Great...'_

"WHAT?!"

_'And, just as I expect to happen from Don.'_

" _You've_  been training  _her_?!"

The anger, hurt and disbelief can be seen in his Reddish-brown eyes, glaring at his brother as if he learned he was the one who destroyed one of his most prized inventions he ever made. Donatello made a grab for Leo's shoulder, which Karasu let out a warning hiss and jabbed her beak at the hand that nearly came down on her and her big-brother, getting into a protective stance should he make another attempt to grab Leo.

"Why would she have  _you_  help her with her training?! I- uh,  _we_ all could've been helping her to become a Kunoichi, together!"

Leonardo glared back at his brother, a low rumble escaping his throat.

_'How dare he accuse me, as if I was stealing her from him when she was never his to begin with?'_

"Donatello, enough!" Splinter ordered, also glaring down at his third son.

"But, Sensei, he-!" Donnie started, whining can be heard in his voice.

"I said 'enough', my son." They stared for a few seconds, till Don finally backed down and say back in his spot, but continued glaring over to Leo. Splinter turned back to his eldest-son, who was calming down Karasu. "Leonardo," he said. "How long ago have you been aiding April assistance in her training?"

Leo stared back at his sensei.

"Since the day after I rescued Murakami-san."

"What?!" Donatello couldn't help but blurt it out.

"I asked him to help me, Donnie!" April butted in, startled and taken back by his reaction when telling the rest of the clan what she and Leo had been doing. She never expected the genius turtle to be that much against his brother helping her to become a Kunoichi, and wasn't going to stand by and have him accuse Leo of any wrong doing he didn't commit. "You guys always told me how dedicated Leo was in his training, so I thought he'd give me some extra pointers to help me perfect my own." She faced Master Splinter. "I didn't know I wasn't supposed to ask for help, Sensei, I swear!"

"I am not angered to your decision, Child." He gently reassured. "I never forbid you to ask for aid from my sons. I'm rather astonished that you would choose Leonardo, and, most of all, has agreed to teach you."

"So, does this mean you'll let me go spy on the meeting?" She asked, giving him a pleading look as if she was asking him if she can drive on her own.

"No!" All five of the Hamato said, in unison.

"But-!"

"April." Leo cut her off, giving her a small glare that ensure she'll remain quiet to hear what he has to say. "So far, your training has been based on Katas and a few fighting styles to help you defend yourself from anybody who tries to attack you. You haven't been trained to do stealth, yet. And with Bradford-"

"His name is Dogpound now, Leo." Mikey interrupted, earning him a glare from his big brother for his interference, all because he gave an enemy a new name he came up with.

"With Bradford mutated into a humanoid-canine, he'll catch your scent and will react to any sound that he'll know isn't one of the Foot."

"What choice do we have?" She asked Leo, as she faced the others. "Shredder's going to attack your home, and we need to find out how."

"And we will, April, but not with you putting your life in jeopardy." He stood up on his feet, Karasu standing high and proud with her big brother. "Why did you think I asked you to take Karasu to your home, and put on videos based on birds flying and gliding in the air?"

* * *

 **Near Midnight, at the Abandoned Church…  
** Leo and the others stood on top of the same building across the street from the abandoned church, watching from afar and safe distance as April, acting like a pizza delivery teen went to their door. On his left-shoulder, Karasu couldn't help but look around the world she hatched into, marveled by the many sounds and bright lights all over the city. The blue-masked turtle can feel her excitement and already knew she'd be sightseeing her surroundings the very moment she came to the surface with them, while watching the scene going on before him.

"A big, bright world, huh?" He whispered, gently coaxing her onto his right-hand.

 _ **"…It's amazing,"**_ she answered.  _ **"I always wondered what the surface world would have to offer… But, this, is more than I imagined it would."**_ A small pain of guilt ran through Leo's heart, feeling responsible for taking her away from the world that should've been her if he'd stopped Kraang sooner and saved her parents.

"And soon, this world shall be yours, as it should've been from the beginning." He gently assured her, watching as a Foot ninja just slammed the door on April. It's clear her way doesn't work on ninjas, as well as it does on normal humans and clueless Purple Dragons. She ran to the alleyway, making sure nobody sees her, before pulling out her phone.

 _ **"Looks like the Foot Clan are smarter than Purple Dragons."**_ She called Leo, disappointed she couldn't get in.

"They'd almost have to be, wouldn't they?" He said, turning to Karasu and seeing she's ready to go. "Thanks, April. You did your best. Head on back to your Aunt, just in case any of them are suspicious about you and actually followed you to see where you go." He didn't wait for a response from the girl, knowing she'll heed his word with a good reason to stay out of the mission. "You ready, Kara?"

 _ **"Auuh!"**_ _ **"Ready, Leo!"**_ She cawed, flapping her wings a bit as the wind rustled behind them.

"Are you sure about this, Leo?" Donatello questioned, not liking his brother's plan at all. "She's still too young to be in the air, even if she's gliding, and, by her wingspan and body-size, the wind won't lift her high enough to make it to the ledge. She'll fall to her death!"

"You think April was wrong?" Don's eyes widen to his brother's question. "You think she over exaggerated, when she stated her stunned response on how Karasu stared on her screen and watched how birds move in the air, flying or gliding?"

The genius turtle shut his mouth, not wanting to say any remarks negative to the girl he's in love. Karasu glared at her older-brother, who dared to not have in faith in her and judged her because of her age and the comparison with either both ravens and crows anatomy.

"I believe in Karasu, and I know she can make it." He turned to the raven/crow-hybrid. "Remember your training, and what you've learned from the videos." She let out a firm "Auh", positioning hey body to launch herself in the air and, when the wind blew a bit more stronger, she took her chance.

She straightened her wings, her diamond-shaped tail feathers fanned out behind her, as the wind blew her towards the church. As Don expected, she began to sink a bit as she reached the halfway point between the two buildings, even her lightly trying to flap her still developing wings a bit wouldn't be enough to get her to the ledge.

"Leo, she's not going to make it!" He exclaimed, not believing that their leader is standing here, doing nothing and letting the bird he cared for over three weeks and fall. "You need to get here, now! Before her body gives out and forces her to drop!"

"...Just watch, Don." Leo said, keeping his eye on Karasu the whole time. "Watch, then you'll all see what she's capable of accomplishing on her own."

Raphael and Michelangelo were also thinking she wasn't going to make it and wanted to step in to save the small-bird, but Leo is their leader and if this is part of his plan, they have to listen and follow his plan.

As she reached the building, Karasu was five inches below the ledge and there wasn't another ledge to catch her. However, instead of either falling as Don expected to happen or even forcing her body to go around and head for the fire escape from the building next to the church, she started hovering and extended one of her talons out to the wall, her right-talon keeping a firm grip on the walkie-talkie she has to implant for the meeting.

Talons made contact with the hard structure, her wings wrapped themselves on the block and her beak hooked itself in the gap between the two cinder block, making a perfect landing.

The three younger-brothers were stunned, while Leo felt pride swell in his chest. After making certain she had a good grip, Karasu slowly pulled herself up, dragging her left-talon up until it reached the bottom of her beak before lifting her head to have her beak make a grab for part of the next cinder block, her wings moving up with her and still bear hugging the wall.

_She definitely got it down._

_'Like I said to the others, she learns well when observing.'_

**_Not to mention, some of Pup's short teachings on reaching door knobs, in case Hatch-Sister tries and injures self._ **

"I can't believe it," Don muttered. "How is she doing it?"

"How else do you think she's able to reach my bedroom door knob, Don?" Leo questioned, as Karasu finally reached the ledge and started hobbling, on one foot, towards one of the gaps of missing stained glass that the Foot Ninjas most likely used to come and go into the church.

The moment she was out of their sights, Leo had his T-Phone connect to the walkie-talkie.

"Can you hear me, Karasu? If you can, make three tapping sounds through the walkie-talkie." A few seconds, three tapping sounds had made it through the device. "Great! Now, what I need you to do, is place the walkie-talkie where it won't fall off and allow us to hear what the Purple Dragons and the Shredder are going to say. You got that? One tap for 'yes', two taps for 'no'."

His brothers looked at him funny, as if he lost his mind and is talking to himself.

"Uh, Leo, I don't think-"

**_Tap_ **

A single tap came through, silencing Raphael from whatever he was going to say to Leonardo and hearing talons tapping against cement for a moment, before a light thump told the blue-masked turtle she sat the device down, followed by a few tapping sounds. She has completed her second task of the mission.

 _ **"Leo, humans and the canine are coming in... I see** him **."**_ A shiver of fear can be heard in her voice, worrying Leo.

 _'If Bradford's hearing starts to irritate him from her distress call through clicking, he'll send a ninja to remove her and will see the walkie-talkie.'_ He quickly whispered a command. "Karasu, hide and seek from the Foot."

Her distress instantly went silent, signaling Leo she went into hiding as he told her

"'Hide and seek'?" Raph questioned, obviously not getting what he means and finding the name ridiculous at a time right now.

"It's a signal for her to remain quiet and to hide in the shadows," Leo explained. "She was letting out her distress call whenever she doesn't feel safe and if Bradford hears her and irritates his heightened sense of hearing, they would remove her and would see the walkie-talkie in the process."

 _ **"Listen carefully."**_ The Shredder's voiced caught the turtles by surprised through the walkie-talkie, even going as far as forcing a scream from Mikey before Raph slammed a hand over his face.  _ **"Five of you will hijack a tanker on Houston in**_ ** _approximately fifteen minutes. The chemical is extremely rare, so you will_** _not **have a second chance."**_

"Chemical? What chemical?" Raphael questioned, distracting the others from listening to what else Shredder was saying through Leo's T-Phone.

"How about we listen and find out?" Don suggested, annoyed of his older-brother having to talk in the middle of an important conversation being said before them.

"How about I break your shell on my knee?" The red-masked turtle growled out, both he and his younger-brother having a glaring contest until Leo shoved them away from each other.

"Enough, both of you!" He yelled, glaring them down with his piercing gaze that sent shiver down their shells. "Stay quiet for a minute, while we listen in on Shredder's plan!"

_**"Which will destroy them, once and for all. Now, go."** _

_Missed it!_

_**Kins bickering caused Pup and selves not learn what Enemy plans to do with 'chemical'. What Pup do now?** _

Leo glared at the two who made them miss the rest of the plot to Shredder's plan, both appeared embarrassed and ashamed for their childish antics to cost them the information.

 _'First things first.'_ "Karasu, Shadow Tag."

"…'Shadow Tag'?" Don pondered, wondering where Leo's coming up with certain names for what he's telling Karasu to do.

"I'm telling her to remain hiding and to come right back."

"But why have tag in the name?" Mikey asked, not seeing a small-blur coming out from the hole in the church and gliding down towards them, until the figure bumped against him and hovered in front of the blue-masked turtle until he held up his left-arm. Seeing the figure being Karasu, who seemed thrilled of his and the other's amazed look and, realizing what she did, the orange-masked turtle leant he gotten his answer on his own. "Never mind."

Don came over to examine her, but pulled back when she gave him a hiss and snapped her beak in his direction. She still hadn't forgiven him for doubting her to help out on the mission, and isn't going to forgive him until she see fit.

Down below them, they see Dogpound, Fong and three other Foot ninjas leaving the church, going into a van and taking off to Houston.

"So, now what do we do?" Raph asked Leo, who was memorizing the appearance of the van and the license plate numbers.

"We can't catch up to them by foot." Donnie stated.

With Houston being fifteen minutes away by car, the purple-masked turtle was right. Even if keep were to go after them on his own, which isn't an option, even running on all-fours won't be enough to catch up to Bradford when his body will run out of energy from chasing a vehicle.

_ What about that patrol buggy Don's been working on? _

Leo didn't seem too thrilled about that mismatch contraption his brother has been working on for nearly two months. From what he saw on the blueprints, there are parts that are unable to hold together and missing parts he doesn't have to improve whatever damages some of its components sustained from the junkyard. It's still able to drive and can separate from the other carts but the backseats don't have their own steering wheels, only certain handles on both side beside their legs to only turn the front wheels, and will leak oil if they go over forty on their own.

_**No choice. Time short, and Pup and Kins must follow like wind. Must stop Mutt, or lose den.** _

His Instinct is siding with his Conscience, meaning he has to go with the plan, even if he doesn't like it

"We're not going by foot "

* * *

 **Fifteen Minutes Later…  
** "Yeah, this is rad!" Mikey hollered, riding in the back-right of the buggy behind Raph, waving his arms while they're speeding down the street. ****  


"Leo, it's not ready!" Don screamed, the wind slapping his face as Leo pushed the patrol buggy to go faster.

"I know, Don, but we have no other choice." He called back, taking a sharp turn on the street that'll lead him to Houston.

"This thing is awesome! Does it have a radio?"

"No, it doesn't have a  _radio_!"

"Quiet back there, backseat drivers!" Raph yelled at the two youngest-turtles. Leo didn't say anything, having to remain focus on the road and keep an eye out for any tanker Bradford will be in possession of.

He would try smelling for his scent, but the speed of the patrol buggy made multiple scents slam into his face at the same time and can't separate them when fast wind and oil from the engine keeps getting in the way. The sounds around him, also came down all at once on him.

_'Can't use any of my senses to help. All I can do right now, is head for Houston and stop Bradford from reaching his destination.'_

He turned another hard left, and this time, he saw the mutated-cannine hanging on to a tanker, being driven by a Foot ninja. The moment they're locked into his field of vision, the truck appeared to escalate in speed towards them. There wasn't any time to turn and they can't afford to damage the patrol buggy, so he has one option to avoid the truck.

"Raph, get ready." Leo warned.

"For what?" Instead of answering, Leo reached for the level to his right and gave it a pull. Instantly, Leo and Mikey separated from Raph and Donnie. Raphael made a quick grab for the wheel in front of him, and both he and Leo went on separate side of the tanker, going around and now following Bradford and his group from behind.

"Leo!" The red-masked turtle yelled, driving beside his blue-masked leader. "You could've been a little more specific!" All Leo did was smirk, before speeding up to the left-side of the tank.

"Leo! I think I figured out Shredder's plan!" Don called out. "Chlorosulfonic Acid reactions violently with water!"

After hearing that small amount of information, Leo understood Shredder's plan as well.

"If he dumps it in the sewers-"

"It'll all be incinerated in seconds, including the Lair!"

_Including Father!_

**_Hurry! Must stop Mutt!_ **

"We gotta stop them!" Bradford's team took a hard right, the turtles still keeping up to them, until one of the two ninjas in the back of the black-van opened the door and try to hit them with their kunai knives.  _'We need to separate.'_ "Raph, Don, take care of the van. Mikey, you're with me. We have to stop that tanker."

"Uh, if you haven't noticed, I'm stuck with Raph?" The youngest replied, not noticing the sinister smile on his older-brother's face by his reply.

"No problem." He reached for the level to his left and, like it did for Leo, the two separated from each other. "I see why you did it. That  _was_  fun!" Leo did the same with Don, who was more prepared for that to happen and, as Leo ordered, the middle turtles went for the black-van and steered it to another direction, while Mikey followed his leader to the tanker.

"What do we do, Leo?" Mikey called out, as they came closer to the tank. The blue-masked turtle thought about using the grappling hook, but his gut told him to not use it, reminding him of Don's warning of the patrol buggy not being ready and the missing parts it doesn't have to keep proper support. However, if they go in front and force them to stop, Bradford would release the chemical and there would be a chance innocent civilians inside their homes would be in grave danger if any water were to make contact with it.

"We follow him," he answered. "When they stop, we'll take on Bradford."

"Right! Also, Leo, remember he's cal-"

"Dogpound, I know!"

In a few minutes, Bradford seemed to finally had enough. He launched himself off the tank, the Foot ninja forcing the large vehicle to stop sideways nearby a construction site, and tossed a manhole cover at the blue-masked turtle, who launched himself off his cart to avoid the cover and landed safely on his feet, drawing Musashi and Kamiizumi from their scabbards.

"Is that all you got, Mutt?" He taunted, encouraging the mutated-canine to charge, snarling in rage by the name he called him by.

"I'd say that's a no." Mikey answered, pulling his cart to a stop.

"Stick to the plan, Mikey. We need to down Br-…  _Dogpound._ " He growled out the name, before charging for Bradford, Mikey joining him from behind. Both launched themselves in the air, readying their weapons to strike.

Mikey got punched from Bradford's right-arm, while Leo brought his weapon down onto the canine's massive left-arm. He couldn't afford to turn his attention to Mikey when he heard the thump behind him, having to dodge the massive blows the mutant before him try to inflict onto his smaller-body. When he tried to make an attack of his own, Leo ended up being uppercut and forced to the ground by one of his paw-like feet. Mikey rejoined the fight and kicked their opponent on the head, before he could've stabbed Leo with one of his stoned-claws on his knuckles.

Whether they switch from attacking to defending, double teaming or even switching each other on who will take him on while protecting their brother from nearly getting pummeled to death, neither of their weapons are able to get through Bradford's tough defense of stone. And thanks to his own training at becoming a skilled ninja from Oroku Saki, his quick reflexes prevent the two turtles from getting any blindspots they tried to exploit.

When Leonardo and Michelangelo ended up tossed to the reconstructing building, Leo grabbed for his own smoke bomb and tossed it to the ground, surrounding him and his brother in the purple-smoke and using their cover to get to higher ground to catch their breath for a moment.

**_*Hiss!*_ **

The tanker released air, drawing their attention to the ground and watching the Foot ninja bringing a red-hose from it's compartment to the opened hole to the sewers.

"Don't let him dump that acid!" Leo ordered, before Bradford jumped to their hiding spot and damaged the platform when both turtles jumped. The mutated-Akita Inu turned his attention on Mikey, which earned him a firm kick from the blue-masked turtle. "Eyes on me, Mutt!"

Bradford snapped his jaws at the turtle, snarling at the name he's been given. Leo pulled himself back, grabbing on to a pipe that held a tarp over the wood to prevent rain to get on the equipment, snarling right back at his enemy. He was just about to make a swipe of his paw, when he heard Mikey's war cry and saw him preventing the Foot ninja from completing the meeting. Frustrated, he jumped back down to the road and turned his focus on stopping the orange-masked turtle.

That earn him a near swipe of an ear off his head, if he didn't duck on time to avoid Leonardo's blades.

"What did I just say,  _Mutt?_ " Hearing that name a second time made Bradford so furious, he grabbed a nearby car* and swung it to try and crush the turtle with it. In five smashes and the turtle ducking and jumping to avoid being hit, the small vehicle was nothing but a pile of junk and metal on the ground. Leo made an attempt to inflict pain to the left-arm when his opponent's temporary weapon went down, but it's pretty clear both of Dogpound's limbs are more stone than flesh underneath that fur and has come to realize that his weakness is getting the underbelly and attacking where dog's can't take the pain, which is their muzzles and neck-area.

Bradford grabbed at the turtle's neck and tossed him towards the tanker, where he collided with his brother after he just finished his fight with the Foot ninja. They fell before the side of the tanker, before getting right back up and going from opposite sides to dodge one of Dogpound's punch. He turns his attention back to Leonardo, both glaring each other down. Their canine instincts made them feel more aggressive to their opponents, each telling the other to keep fighting for dominance and prove who's top dog, or  _wolf_ , of New York City.

Leo brought down Kamiizumi, which ended being trapped by the stone-claws on Dogpound's left-knuckle. Then, tried attacking with Musashi, only to have the stone-cover claw to grab at his wrist and, with overpowering strength, forced the turtle off his feet. His shell hit the tanker.

_ *Shhhhhh* _

He looked up when he heard the sound of liquid running, seeing that his sword has went through the metal with ease and has released the Chlorosulfonic Acid from its containment. Fear flashed in his eyes, before staring at Bradford and, with fear replaced by anger, swiftly kicked the mutated-canine underneath his snout. The kick stunned Bradford, forcing out a yelp when the foot made contact with his nose and unable to block another kick, forcing the mutant to release the turtle and back away to recover from the two painful kick to his sensitive snout.

Leo yanked Musashi from the tank, causing the the chemical to gush out when it made a bigger hold to appear for it to come out. His enemy merely stared at the chemical, then began to walk away, thinking the plan will still succeed and the turtles won't be able to stop the Chlorosulfonic Acid from reaching the uncovered sewer.

 _'Now what?'_  The blue-masked turtle felt the need to chase down Bradford, drag him to the sewer and toss him inside, so he will end up killed by his master's own plan. However, now wasn't the time to kill and now is the time to save their home and Master Splinter.

_ Don said it'll explode the moment it contacts with water. Quickly, find water and use it, before it reaches the sewers! _

There are no fire hydrants nearby, and the closest one was nearly a block away from where they are right now. Luckily, he knows where he can find water.

"Mikey, throw the water balloon!"

"Uh, what water balloon?" Mikey asked, trying to act innocent and uncertain what his brother was saying. He didn't have time to mess around.

"The one you were gonna hit me with?" The orange-masked turtle looked over his shoulder, staring at the yellow water balloon he was intending to throw at Leo when he would finally beat Dogpound and stop the chemical from destroying their home, intending to keep hold on his promise to get him. Even as a ninja, himself, he's still stunned on how his big brother knew he has the water balloon with him.

"Dud, you are good."

As Leo ordered him to do, Mikey tossed the water balloon at the chemical. The very moment he tossed it, Leo grabbed his brother and ran the two of them as far away from the tanker as he could on his legs. He glared at Bradford, smirking at the dog-mutant for not realizing what they just did and when his ears caught a high-pitch sound that the leader heard, it was already too late. The force of the blast pushed Leo and Mikey over the destroyed car Bradford used to attack the blue-masked leader, while the enemy barely made it with the ends of his fur singed.

Leonardo and Michelangelo got up from their cover, watching the flame consume the tanker. His heart still raced from the feeling of the heat nearly touching his skin, let alone the thought on what it could've done in the sewers when seeing how big the flames were from just a small water balloon. He looked over to his brother, smiling in relief that he's alright and made a great aim on the Chlorosulfonic Acid.

"Nice on-…"

_**Grab and throw!** _

Leo's ears caught the sound of water, adding up to what his Instinct was telling him to do. The moment Mikey threw the pink water balloon, Leo raised his hand to grasp it, forced himself to leap and tossed it right back to Mikey, soaking him in the process. The youngest turtle was stunned on what just happened, his brain needing time to catch on what just happened.

"How did you know I had two?!" He asked, eyes still wide-eyed from the fire and his big brother backfiring his balloon at him.

"Who else gave you the idea on how to carry more than one item with you, Mikey?" Leo answered with his own question, crossing his arms and giving him a smirk on his face on how obvious he figured out his brother's little scheme as Dr. Prank-enstein. His eyes zoomed in on some of the lights in apartments turning on, his eyes flashing in concern of human's heading for their windows and doors to see what just happened. His ears and nose picked up Raphael and Donatello running for them. "We need to go. Before the humans sees us."

Immediately, the four turtles ran for the shadows, heading for another manhole cover around the next block before any humans saw what's outside of their homes.

* * *

 **Back in the Lair…  
** "Nothing says victory like the sweet taste of pizza." Mikey declared, as he, Raph and Don went to grab a slice of pizza. Leo sat on the other couch, Karasu on his arm, not bothering to some pizza for him. ****  


"This pizza smells kinda funky." Donnie stated, who noticed an odd scent on the food after taking a bite of his own slice. "Where'd you get it?"

"It's the one April threw out, when she was heading back to her Aunt's." Instantly, the two older brothers tossed their slices aside, spitting out whatever part of the pizza they had in their mouths and gagging from the sudden stench they have in their mouth. "What? We live in a sewers. Now you're clean freaks? Huh. More for me." Michelangelo helped himself to the other slices his brothers threw aside, enjoying his meal with ease.

Leo's stomach felt sick all of a sudden, which he instantly got to his feet and made way to their only bathroom to empty what little he has in his stomach, with Karasu hitching a ride on his shoulder and witnessing the ill-moment her big brother's going through. As he expected, only some bile and a few meals he had nearly three days ago was all that appeared in the toilet. Even after all that, his stomach still acted like it still had something in it and left him gagging for a whole minute.

 _ **"Big Brother? Are you okay?"**_ Karasu asked, nuzzling her beak against his uninjured cheek when he finally stopped gagging and now was simply catching his breath.

"…I'm okay, Karasu." He answered, getting back up to his feet and flushing the toilet. in the mirror, his face appeared a bit clammy and much more tired than he ever felt.

 _ **"Why Older-Brother Mikey eat human food, from silver cans?"**_ She wondered, as Leo washed his face before making his way out from the bathroom.

"He has an unusual eating habit, so he'll eat whatever satisfies his hunger." He re-entered the living room, seeing Raph tackling Mikey for making them eating the pizza that April throughout in the garbage can, while Don remained on the couch and turned his head when he felt their big brother rejoining them.

He got off from his spot and came over to the blue-masked turtle, who went back to his spot on the couch.

"You okay, bro?" Don asked, placing a hand over Leo's forehead, feeling for any signs of illness.

"I'll live," he answered. "Although, I'm not sure how long Mikey will be alright if Raph decides to flatten him from his weight."

Raph heard his brother's words and, while he prefers to keep the youngest pinned to the grind until he says his mercy, he got right off the orange-masked turtle.

"My sons." All four turtles turned to Master Splinter, as he entered the living room. "I owe you my gratitude… And an apology."

"'An apology'? Why that, Sensei?" Don questioned.

"Fear clouded your minds. However, it was not the Shredder that fueled that fear, but me.  _-His eyes turned to Leonardo, flashing regret for raising a paw at him when he did what was right.- "_ You overcame that fear, and performed admirably." He lifted his head up high, proud of his sons for saving their home, and himself. "No training today…" Raphael and Donatello cheered from Splinter's verdict, ready to properly relax of no training. "Unless Michelangelo throws that balloon."

All eyes turned to Michelangelo, who was ready to toss a blue water balloon at their father when his back was turned. His smiled nervously at Raph and Don, both glaring at him and charging at him.

"You're so going to get it!" The two older brothers chased the youngest in the Lair, as Leo remained sitting on the couch.

"Leonardo..." Splinter started, watching his oldest stroking Karasu's feathers and watching his three brothers chasing each other. He knew what Splinter was going to say, and didn't want the humanoid-rat to bring up the mistake he made when he already admitted his own mistake to the others.

"You've already apologized, Sensei." He said, not looking at his master but still holding respect for the one who raised him and is a part of by DNA. "All has been forgiven... There's no need to wallow in guilt, anymore."

His words held much wisdom and understanding, it surprised the fifty year-old father of how much maturity his eldest-son has, compared to his brother. However, no matter how mature they'll end up, they're always going to be his  _babies_... And for that, he's always going to worry for them all.

**TBC**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *: Yes, I know it was a dumpster Dogpound used, but I think there should've been some destruction of other people's property. Also, when the tanker exploded, I'm surprised no humans came out to see what happened and/or see any of the human's belongings outside of their homes didn't get burn to a crisp.
> 
> Times like these, I wish I could draw this story into a comic... If anybody feels the same way and wants to take a crack at it, go ahead (so long you make sure the readers know who made the story, ownership right on who made the show [obviously] and where to find the story on fanfiction). If you want to do that, please ask me and let me know.
> 
> R&R


	12. A Rat's Reason

**May Twenty-four; In the Lair...  
** Today for training, is a very difficult task for the turtles they'd yet to accomplished, together: Lay an attack on Splinter. Why is it so difficult to lay a head on Splinter? Because he's a Ninja Master, and many warriors have been unsuccessful at laying a single hit on the great Hamato Yoshi. So, it's no surprise that even his own sons wouldn't be able to succeed sick a task, including in training sessions.

"All right, anybody have a plan on how to get Splinter, this time?" Donatello whispered his question, not wanting to be too loud for their sensei to hear their plan.

"So long it doesn't involve rushing him at once, I'm good with any plan." Michelangelo stated, earning a glare from Raphael from bringing up their last plan from their last session on getting Splinter.

"How about, instead of having Donnie attack first, you go first this time, Mikey?" The red-masked turtle suggested, his younger-brother agreeing to the plan in an instant.

"I think he took it the wrong way." Mikey said to the purple-masked turtle, who didn't bother saying anything on redoing the plan and turned to Leonardo at his left.

"What do you think, Leo?" Don asked his blue-masked brother, who, surpassingly, hadn't said a word the entire time of training. In fact, now that Don thinks about it, he hasn't really said much at all today. His brother didn't say anything. He only glared down at his feet, an angry, disturbed look on his face. Don placed a hand on Leo's shoulder, slightly jostling him a bit. "Leo?"

The response he gained, was a swift turned head at his direction and looking into the angry eyes of his brother. He roughly jerked his shoulder out from the Genius turtle's hand, a low growl could be made out.

"What?" Leo grunted out, not sounding calm, happy or even showing any signs of concern of their training session. The three younger-brothers were taken back by his angry behavior, not knowing why he looks ready to bite their faces off or why he's eyeing them like prey he hasn't seen in days.

Raph answered in Don's place.

"We're planning our attack on Sensei," he reminded. "Mikey's going to attack first."

"Which I say he took my mentioning from our last attack session with Sensei, the wrong way." Mikey came in, still earning a glare from Raph. "You got any better ideas on how to get Splinter, Leo?"

All the oldest brother did was look over to their sensei, glaring daggers at the back facing them.

"It doesn't matter," he growled. "No matter what plan we think of, it's always going to end with the same results." Again, the younger brothers were stunned by his response and behavior. He isn't going to give them any idea to get Splinter?

"Dude, is something wrong?" Mikey asked, wanting to reach out to his big brother but afraid to trigger Leo's anger onto him.

"...It's nothing..." They weren't convinced his answer, but now wasn't the time to pry for the real answer. He slowly got to his feet, the others following suit. "Let's get this lesson over with."

With no other plan to come up, they had to go with Raph's plan. Which means, Mikey has to attack first and he isn't looking forward to being first to get pummeled. As the four turtles slowly creeped to position themselves, cornering their opponent in a box-like formation, Splinter made no move to make the first attack. His eyes remain closed, his ears slightly tilted to the side, catching the silent steps of his sons and listening to hear who will be the first to strike.

As Raphael suggested, Mikey charged first. When his fist was at close range by launching himself in the air and aiming his feet for his head, Splinter grabbed him from behind his back and pulled him over his shoulders, forcing him to the ground on his plastron and kicking him off to the side. Behind him, Raphael and Donatello came up, the red-masked turtle coming in closer than his younger-brother and coming down from the air to land a punch. Splinter dodged Raph's punch and Don's kick, backing away and pulling the top-half of himself when Leo nearly gotten a kick of his own. At the same time he turned, the two mid-turtles tried to lay their previous attack on him, again, only for Splinter to catch both fist and leg in each of his hands. He took down Donatello first by sliding a leg over the genius turtle's left-leg, which forced him to spin in the middle of the air, then delivered a powerful kick towards Raphael that sent the both of them to the ground.

Leonardo was the only one left in the battle. He charged, then rolled when he felt that Splinter would try to strike him in the plastron and, when he got to a crouch, forced his legs to push him up and raised his fist in the air… It collided with Splinter's right-cheek, the punch made the humanoid-rat push back. All eyes widen from what happened before the turtles: After so many years of training, they finally landed a hit on their sensei.

While the three brothers could only watch in shock, Leonardo's eyes were wide-eyed at what was playing before him... Until the anger returned on his face and, instead of apologizing or even feeling any guilt for laying an attack on his sensei, he did what the others never thought he would ever do: He delivered a fierce slam to Splinter's stomach with his left-palm, slide his leg underneath his feet to make him fall on his back and placed himself on top of the rat's chest, his left-hand clamped to Splinter's neck and his right-hand held in the air in the form of a fist.

Leo's eyes flashed so much rage, it  _horrified_ Hamato Yoshi to the very core that he couldn't even think about freeing himself when his reddish-brown eyes are haunted by this sudden anger in his eldest-child. His brothers held similar feelings, only they used the fear to push themselves for their father's well being to pull Leo off of Splinter. Raph and Don both pulled Leo off, while Mikey went beside Splinter and pulled the hand that was to the rat's neck.

"What the shell's the matter with you, Leo?!" Raphael yelled, standing between his father and his older-twin, who merely glared back at his red-masked brother before glaring back at Splinter.

Mikey and Don helped their father to his feet, each taking one side to help keep him standing, while they stared at the blue-masked turtle with concern and even a hint of fear.

"Seriously, Leo, you could've choked him to death or even damaged one of his bones." Donatello stated, all of them clearly forgetting that their father is a Ninja Master.

Leo knew Splinter wouldn't be so easily defeated by such attacks he, himself, taught the four of them to do, which he has also shown them different counter moves to get the upper hand… And he has yet to use any at all when the blue-masked turtle came to attack the second time, and continued the fight to show the brothers how much their sensei has actually been holding back on them, when training them all at once… The very same Hamato Yoshi, Leonardo has been forced to train under since he was four, who never once went easy on him like he does with his brothers.

And that's what infuriated the leader in blue the most: Master Splinter has been toying with his brothers, for all these years, and never revealed his full potential that would've helped them further in their training on how to on the Shredder. But instead, has decided to go easy on them and, when he thinks they're ready for the next level, he pretends to let one of them lay a hit on them? On  _purpose_?! Which will not only boost their egos, but think they won't need him someday?

Well, he decided to give them a heads up.

"He knew what he did was wrong," he growled out. "He thinks this'll make us become strong warriors, when he's only making you all be simple minded on what he's been doing this whole time.  _-The anger in his eyes made Splinter cringe when he spoke those words.-_ You three may not know what I mean, but I know the true Splinter he hides from you three. The  _sons_  he cherish and can't help himself, but pamper them from the truth of his actual training."

He ripped himself from Raphael's tight hold, made his way out of the dojo, slamming the Shōji in the process, before making a mad dash for the exit of the Lair. The moment he's outside of the Lair, he pushed himself to sprint on all-four, heading deep for the sewers where he wish to be at this very moment.

_You shouldn't had taken your anger out on Father and to beat him like that before your brothers, is uncalled for._

_'He pushed us for over three weeks since our first encounter with Shredder, and is now going soft on them, again, after we saved our home. They need to realize that Sensei hasn't been going serious on them since he trained them at seven… Not the way he's been pushing me when I was four.'_

As he ran through the tunnels, he noticed that something was off about the area. He wasn't sure how or why, but he noticed there's been little activity going on for a few days. He also took notice of how there are fewer rouge rats in the sewers than he last remember his last visit to the Colony that took him in when he was ten. Something told him that there's going to be trouble, and that trouble will be involving his sewer friends.

 _ **"Leo!"**_ A voice called out from the corner of the tunnel, stopping him in the middle of the water and looking down to see a familiar figure he hasn't seen in over a month.

"Kyra." He greeted, smiling down at the pure-white rat and lowering his head to sniff noses with his friend before letting her jump on to his shell.

 _ **"It's been so long, Leo! We missed you!"**_ Kyra said, nuzzling her head against his.

"I missed you guys, too." He replied back, continuing on to the direction for the Colony at a slower paste. "Sorry that I haven't been visiting much."

 ** _"No, you don't have to apologize."_** She reassured the blue-masked turtle.  _ **"We heard from the pigeons and our allies on what you and your brothers been doing, on the surface world.** -Kyra laid her head on top of his.-  **You saved us all, and will always be forever in your debt."**_

Leo blushed a bit from her words, but kept going until he reached a tunnel he's been searching for.

"You and the Colony saved me from dying, after my first encounter with White Death." He reminded. "I was indebted to you all for saving me, just as you claimed you're all indebted to me for saving all your lives... I think this make us all even, but that doesn't mean I won't stop assisting you if there's trouble."

A moment of silence went by the two, until Kyra broke the silence.

 ** _"...Leo... We require your help."_** He stopped in his tracks, slightly turning his head while she remains laying her head on his.  _ **"Something happened to the Colony, and we don't know why."**_

Leonardo narrowed his eyes from the information, then turned back to the tunnel.

"Tell me exactly what the problem is, and I'll do whatever I can to fix the problem."

And so Kyra told him exactly what's been going on: Over a week ago, on what's supposed to be an ordinary day for the rats in the sewers, started off as such. Many of the younger rats went off to scavenge for food, while some of the younger females remained in the nest to watch over the younglings or are expecting future generation to be born soon. When the first day ended, not only have all the younger females who went to scavenge returned with food before the sun has set, but more than half of the younger males that went off didn't return to the nest. The next day, they still hadn't returned and, worried for their safety, the leader of the Colony had sent five of his best trackers to look for the missing males… On the ending of the third day, no sign for either the missing scavengers or the trackers came back. It wasn't until the middle of the sixth day that some of the missing males returned, all containing burn marks and some loss of furs on their bodies. And yesterday, most of their trackers returned to the Colony, dazed and lethargic. They didn't know what occurred in the past few days, only that a voice called out to them and when they embraced the voice, everything went black until they found themselves near Antonio's Pizza.

By the time Kyra finished informing of the problem, they reached the dead-end of the nest. In the center of a big room, where water travels through the drain, Leonardo sees what the white-rat was telling him is true: About thirteen rats are in the center of the room, mostly females and young children who aren't ready to scavenge for food, while seventeen males stood at the center to keep watch for any signs of intruders to enter their nest. Eight of the males had burn marks on their bodies, indicating to being the scavengers to return from wherever they were at for six days.

 _ **"Leo!"**_ One of the males called out, announcing their honorary Colony member to the whole nest who turned to greet the humanoid-wolf/turtle. The one who called out his name was a pure-black rat, one of the trackers who returned and unsuccessfully figured out where the rest of the males went.  _ **"Kyra!"**_

The white-rat, catching the name from the black-rat, jumped off of Leo's shell and scurried to the male, both nuzzling against each other in a manner that the blue-masked turtle instantly figured out the relationship between them.

" **Ettore** (Loyal)," he greeted. "I see you finally decided to take Kyra as your mate?" While Kyra continued displaying her affection to the black-rat, Ettore gave the turtle what he knew is a rat's version of a smile.

 _ **"A few weeks ago, actually."**_ He answered, returning his affection to his mate.  _ **"We're also expecting our first family, somewhere in June."**_ Leo smiled at the two rats before him, as some of the female rats came to greet him and jump on his shell.

"Well, I believe that 'congratulations' are in order." He said, lifting his left-hand to nuzzle with a grey-rat with white on her hind-legs. "Though, I'm afraid now isn't the time to be joyous when something has happened to our Colony."

 ** _"Leonardo is correct, I'm afraid."_** An old grey-rat, who's fur appears thinning and losing its color to a near white, slowly walked towards them, lifting his nose to sniff with Leo as a greeting.  ** _"This 'presence', that our trackers and our returned members have told us, is the reason why our Colony has grown smaller."_**

 _ **"It's not just our own Colony that suffers from unexplainable disappearances, Great**_   _Fakhry_ (Honorary) _ **."**_ Ettore informed, slowly stepping up but didn't dare to approach any further unless he challenges his leader for the right to take his place.  **Fakhry** tilted his head a bit, silently allowing his tracker to speak.  _ **"I may not know what has happened since the voice controlled us, but I do remember seeing some of our allied Colonies' members and even some of our enemies with us.** -He lowered his head in shame, even as Kyra rubbed against him to cheer him up.-  **…I even remembered seeing** **Aristotle** **, sitting on the shoulder of a human, who smelt of fire and toxic, talking to us as if we're Kin. He calls himself, the Rat King."**_

Some of the rats hissed from the name Aristotle, a rogue albino-rat who opposed a threat to the Colony and, long ago, killed some of their younglings as an attempt to wipe out their bloodline before his attempt to kill the leader to replace him and nearly lost his life in the process.

 _ **"Leo,"**_ Ettore spoke to the turtle.  _ **"The human, he knows of you and your brothers' existence. He kept calling you 'Vile Turtles' and holds a heavy grudge on you guys, which means you know this human or at least crossed paths with him."**_

That news of information surprised Leonardo, who laid on the plastron so the little ones can lay against his skin or run up and down his shell in order to bond with the newest member of the Colony.

 _'The human, this "Rat King" knows us?'_ He thought long and hard to figure out which human they're talking about, and all he got was: Baxter Stockman*, the Purple Dragon and Vi-

 _"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"_ His heightened sense of hearing picked up an echoed cry, a sound he never thought he hear in his lifetime: Hamato Yoshi, Master Splinter,  _screaming_. He got to his limbs, forcing the young ones to jump off of him when they, also, heard his sensei scream of pain.

 _ **"That sounded like your father."**_ Kyra said, watching her mate climb up on his shell.

 _ **"The human… He must've figured out your father's existence, and is trying to gain control of him."**_ Ettore figured out with Leo, growling from the thought of somebody who dared to harm one of his own.  _ **"You must get to him, immediately. I shall go with you, in case we run into those who already fallen victim to the human's voice."**_

Leonardo didn't say anything to his suggestion, only pushed his body to bound over the Colony and sprint, on all-four, back to the Lair, with Ettore staying firm on his shell. In under two minutes, he made it back to the Lair, pushing himself up to run on his legs and head for the dojo, where his brothers kneeled beside their trembling father.

"Sensei, are you okay?" Donatello asked, placing a hand over the rat's forehead for any sign of a fever.

"I… Am fine." Splinter groaned out, though it's pretty clear that he's lying.

"You're not fine, Sensei." Leo stated, kneeling in front of him so the two can look eye-to-eye and clearly saw that the fifty year-old human is trying to hide the pain. "Your scream could be heard within the sew-"

The sound of birds tweeting cut him off, coming from Donatello.

"That's April's ringtone." The purple-masked turtle respond, who didn't mean to give off the ringtone he set should April call on his T-Phone and got both Raphael and Michelangelo to making kissing sounds.

 _ **"He still infatuated with the girl?"**_ Ettore asked Leo, cocking his head to the weird sound the phone was making and having a disgust look on his face at Donatello.

"Unfortunately…" Leo mumbled, glaring at his second-youngest turtle trying to talk to the girl but kept skipping over his words if he should talk normal, act smooth, or casually. He stopped when the girl cut to the chase and what she said, definitely confused and stunned the purple-masked turtle.

"April's in trouble," he told the others. "And it's not just her. Something's going on with the city… With a serious rat problem.  _-Splinter sent a tired glare at him, making Don laugh nervously.-_ No offense, Sensei."

Ettore let out a low hiss, startling everybody of the rat announcing his existence the entire time.

 _ **"The Rat King, he's causing this to happen!"**_ He yelled, patting his front paws on Leo's left-shoulder.  _ **"Hurry! Your friend is in great danger!"**_

* * *

 **Above the Sewers, in New York…  
** "Oh, wow, the city is so beautiful in the daytime." Mikey commented, as he and his brothers jumped from rooftop to rooftop, heading for April's coordinates from her T-Phone. "Except for the, you know, billions of rats."

**_*Hisss!*_ **

Ettore warned the youngest-turtle behind Leonardo, who laughed nervously before Don distracted him by talking of the population of rats in New York City.

 _ **"You're certain it was wise to leave your father, alone?"**_ He asked the blue-masked turtle, who was following April's scent in the air.

"Karasu is back at the Lair," he answered. "I advised her to keep watch, but to remain distant from him should he get into a stance that gives her a warning of a threat towards her." Some rats ran with him on the rooftop, following him and leaping to the next rooftop, who he and Ettore recognize as some from their allies.

 _ **"Leonardo, Ettore, we just**_ ** _received word from your Colony members:_** _Onida_ (The one searched for) _ **,** Takuya _(Forerunner, pathfinder) _ **and** Chan _(Snow) _ **."**_ A male brown-rat with black spots on his back, informed.  _ **"We, along with our allies, are trying to find our missing colony members and making them snap out from whoever is telling them to come up to the surface and harm humans for some maddening plan."**_

Leo nodded to the rat, as they took off to the other direction, before his ears caught the sound of April's distress call. Looking before him, he saw what he and Ettore never thought to see: The whole city road, covered by rats, acting like a flood to cover the entire pavement. On a single utility pole, was April, trying to keep at a high distance from the rats as possible.

Behind him, he can hear Raph warning Don about smacking him in the shell, not noticing the problem before them.

"Uh, guys, we may have a problem." He alerted them, forcing them to see what he sees before them.

"Oh, rats." Mikey purposely said, earning an annoyed glare by Raph. "Get it?"

"For the fourteenth time, yes!" Donatello ignored what the youngest just said, too focused on the sixteen year-old redhead in the utility pole.

"We're coming, April!" He called out. "Don't go anywhere!" Leo glared at Don's choice of words.

_'Not like she can fly, or extend her arms to move from her post.'_

"Where would I possibly go?" She called back, distracted from the rats starting to chew at the pole.

Raph was the first to pull out his grapple hook, swung it to the utility pole and, when it's secured, swung over to the pole. Mikey and Don were next, pulling out their grapple hooks and swinging over to the utility pole and scaling up to get April. Leo chose to wait to make sure they each made it to the pole, before he goes with them.

 _ **"Leo, I see them!"**_ Ettore cried out, jerking his nose to point where he wanted the blue-masked turtle to see… Where he, too, saw the rest of the missing males of their colony, including Seafra and Valerio.  _ **"I must get to them, try and snap them out of it!"**_

"Go on ahead, Ettore." Leo agreed, giving his friend permission to leave. "Do what you can, but do not follow them if they're still under the control and return to the Colony. They must know what's going on, and we can't risk you being controlled again." The black-rat nodded his head to Leo's order, jumped off his shoulder and scurried as fast as he could to his missing colony members.

"April!" Don's cry brought Leo back to the problem at hand, watching as the rat's chewing caused the utility pole to bend forward. In the process, gravity forced her grip to slip and began falling. Acting fast, Leo swung his grapple to the utility pole, launched himself in the air and caught her before she was a few feet away from landing on the street.

"You okay?" He asked, checking her over to be certain she wasn't injured in any way. In response, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him, burying her face against his shoulder and trembling from nearly falling to her death and possibly being eaten alive by the rats.

Below them, Donatello glared at Leo, jealous that his big brother just rescued the girl before he was about to swoop in like Tarzan and impress her more to liking him. Before he could say anything, the pole went forward, now in a ninety degree angle away from the street and hanging by two wires. When the pole turned, Leo pulled April off of him and helped her cling to the wood for dear life, gently shifting her to bear-hug on the top instead of the bottom, like he and Raph are doing.

"Okay, I appreciate you guys coming to help, but how is this better than getting eaten by rats?" She questioned, staring at the rats watching the teens' every movement and gazing at them with hunger in their eyes.

"At least it'll be quick." Mikey replied, he and Don both dangling in the air and holding the wood by their arms. "With rats, they chew and chew and chew and chew and chew-"

"Okay, we get it." While hanging for dear life, Leonardo looked for anything that could save them from ending up as roadkill, which'll lead them to being rat food.

_Can't use the grapple hooks; you'll only be able to reach the lower parts of the houses and even then, none of you will be able to get a stable hold from the hook before the pole snaps in half. If one of you guys could hit the right mark, the rope won't support you all at the same time._

**_Can't jump; too far distant. Wires won't support any longer and moment they snap, electricity will harm Pup and Kins._ **

Yep, he was stuck on how to get them all to safety and avoid being ripped to shreds. He knows what a swarm of rats are capable of doing and, no, he didn't get the idea from playing "Dishonored"*.

 _ **"Leo, over here!"** He_ looked down where he saw Ettore on top of a outdoor air conditioning unit, surrounded by other rats watching with concern looks in their eyes.  _ **"Use this! The utility pole will fall here, so you and your pack head for the other end to launch you to the rooftops! Hurry!"**_

He didn't hesitate to use his friend's suggestion.

"Guys, this way!" He pulled himself over the pole, helping Mikey get up in the process and assisting April to gain her balance, while Raph and Don helped themselves on top. Slowly, they followed their leader helping for the end of the pole.

_***Snap!*** _

The first of the two wires snapped.

"Hurry!" Don cried, forcing them all to run before the second wire finally gave way.

When they reached the other end, the other side of the utility pole went down, hitting the outdoor air conditioning unit and, like a catapult, flung the five teens in the air and onto the top gate entrance of Chinatown. The five teens looked down to the rats, Leo relieved that Ettore and the others got out of the way before the utility pole hit the conditioning unit, while the others were still processing that they made it.

"Chew on that, rat finks!" Donatello said, thinking that one liner would make him sound and look cool, especially in front of April. Nobody thought it was good. "Come on, it sounded cool. Didn't it?"

Raphael and Michelangelo shook their heads, glaring at their genius brother.

"Does anybody know what the hell's going on?!" April asked, wanting answers to why a swarm of rats are attacking the city. The purple-masked ninja used her question as an excuse to move on from his embarrassed cool-talk.

"I'm not sure," he answered. "But whatever it is, this attack is extremely well coordinated. Obviously, there's a higher intelligence at work here."

"Well, that rules out Mikey." Raph joked, earning a glare from the orange-masked turtle.

"I'm serious." Don clearly wasn't in the mood for jokes right now. "Someone or some _thing_  is controlling every rat in the city."

"Wait a sec.  _Every_  rat?" The emphasis on the word 'every' could be heard in the red-masked turtle's voice. They all knew that if this mystery person is controlling every rat in the city, that means only one thing...

"We need to head back to the Lair. Now!" Leonardo ordered, getting everyone to already make a run for the direction away from the rat swarm and to a manhole cover that isn't infested with rats.

* * *

 **Back at the Lair…  
** In the Lair, Splinter slept in the Living Room, on a tatami mat. He chose to wait for his sons to return with April, but the pain in his mind from the unexplainable presence made him tired and decided to catch some sleep until the turtles come back. Roosting on the head of one of the couches, Karasu kept visual eyes on the exhausted rat, keeping distance from her 'Papa' but making sure he sees her to ensure him that he isn't alone.

His ears slightly twitched, his tail thrashed against the floor and making grunting sounds, vocalizing his pain.

* * *

 _ **"Why fight it?"**_ The voice called out deep in his mind.  _ **"You know in your heart you belong to the Rat King."**_

_Inside his mind, Splinter opened his reddish-brown eyes, finding himself in total darkness. Even in the dark, Splinter knew he isn't alone and the presence is inside of his head, with him, lurking in the shadows._

_"Leave me." He grunted out, looking behind his back. "I am not one of your rats to control."_

**_"You're right."_ ** _Behind him, a human-like figured came out from the dark. His face covered by a long-black hat, but the bottom of his face shows terrible burnt, wrinkled skin. The damaged, crooked, unclean teeth disturbed the humanoid-rat. **"You're so much more.**  We **are so much more. And together, we will be unstoppable.** "_

_**"No!"**  Splinter yelled, fear can be seen in his eyes and his voice.  **"You and I are nothing alike."**_

**_"We both lost all we held dear,"_ ** _the_ _Rat King stated. **"We've both become outcasts from society."** Behind him, there was that horrible memory Hamato Yoshi couldn't stand to see: The fire, the destruction of his childhood home… The death of his beautiful wife, Tang Shen, and the lost of his baby girl, Hamato Miwa. No matter how hard he tried to move passed that even, he'll always remember the flames that flashed before his eyes. The heat that nearly burnt his skin.  **"And we've both come to see the world through the eyes of rats."**_

_Beside Splinter, the Rat King appeared beside him, smiling as the iris of the humanoid-rat flashed from their reddish-brown eyes to a solid red, signaling he's starting to reach him. Realizing the presence covering his mind, Splinter fought it._

_**"No. I am a man. I am Hamato Yoshi!"**  He yelled at the darkness, showing no desire to admitting to anything the Rat King said to him is true._

**_"Not anymore."_ ** _Splinter growled at the enemy's words. He absolutely refuses to give up, and isn't going to give in to his false words… No matter how true they are._

* * *

Outside of his sleep, the turtles and April made it back to the Lair with no difficulties. They saw Splinter lying completely still on his back, unresponsive and no reaction of any kind to indicate of him waking up. All four Hamato sons stood around their sensei, worry in their eyes.

"Is he okay?" April asked, sitting up on the couch to rest her chin on the head, Karasu standing beside her to allow the girl to pet her as comfort for both of them.

"Donnie, you're the smart one. What do we do?" Raphael questioned the purple-masked turtle, hoping the genius brother has any idea on how to help their father.

"…Maybe we should poke him?" Leo glared at his brother's suggestion.

_'Is he serious? He thinks poking Sensei is going to tell us if he's alright or not?'_

_ Poking Father may prove if he's responsive or not. _

_**Disrespectful, and Kins will surely have Omega-Brother Michelangelo to do so… Alpha not awaken. Something wrong with Alpha, in Subconscious.** _

"Mikey, poke him." Raph told the youngest brother, who instantly hated the idea the moment his older-brother told him to be the one to do the idea.

"No way, I'm not poking him.  _You_  poke him." He whined, crouching behind Leo for shelter.

"Okay, we'll put it to a vote." Don suggested, knowing Raph will vote the same answer he'll say. "Mikey."

"Mikey."

"I wanna recount." He knew it was futile, even if Leo didn't put a vote to it like the others. Before Don thought about giving the youngest brother his own Naginata staff to use to poke him, the blue-masked turtle took matters into his own hand and went before Splinter's unmoving figure.

"Leo? What are you doing?" April asked the turtle, who kneeled at the top of the rat's head and gently raised his head to rest on his lap.

"I'm going to enter his mind." He answered, placing his index-fingers against Splinter's temples and his thumbs underneath his jawline.

"Enter Sensei's mind? You can actually do that?" Donatello questioned, still keeping a grip on his staff.

"I've been trained to do so," the blue-masked turtle stated. "Now, listen. If I don't move or make any response in five minutes, that means I'm inside Sensei's mind. And whatever you do, don't even think about doing the puppet thing, Mikey."

A blush ran through the orange-masked turtle's face.

"What puppet thing?" He earned a warning glare from the eldest-turtle.

"Where you move the person's lip and try to imitate their voice to make them say what you want them to say."

The middle-brothers also glared down at their youngest, before watching Leo get comfortable and prepares himself to do what he must. Closing his eyes, Leo took deep, cleansing breath, focusing his mind to feel out Splinter. He felt a pull in the back of his mind... A cold, dark presence that dare to steer him away from his sensei.

The presence wasn't strong, meaning the Rat King can't harm him and is focusing his attention on Splinter, because he's a rat and can only have power over rats. When his eyes opened, the turtles and April saw a clear, white color consume his entire sight, before he closed them and found himself in complete darkness.

* * *

_**"Must fight it."**  A voice inside of the dark caught Leonardo's attention, silently heading for the sound he knew is Splinter's voice._

**_"We have evolved beyond humanity. We have no need for them, but we can help each other."_ ** _Another voice called or in the dark, a voice Leo recognized at whom he thought to being the suspect to the rat problem before he was interrupted by his sensei's scream._

_Should've known he'd be the one behind all this, especially if was still trying to keep his psychic power._

**_Stop threat, keep away from Alpha._ **

_He still remained in the dark, catching a figure wearing dark clothing and standing over the hunched over form of his sensei._

**_"Join me, and you shall hide below the surface no more."_ ** _A low rumble Left Leo's chest, knowing he needs to intervene before Splinter's mind grows more tired and the Rat King will force him to join him._

**_Pup, release!_ **

_Leo felt his Instinct taking over; the need to stand beside his Alpha and guard him from those who dare to threaten the one to raise the humanoid-wolf/turtle, caused a fury of rage to course throughout his entire being... And he let that rage guide him, to allow his thoughts freewill to manifest into a midnight-black wolf to appear before him and to let the shadow-like creature to attack the Rat King._

**_"Aaugh!"_ ** _The figured pulled away from Splinter, barely missing the claws that would've torn his chest wide open if he didn't move on time._

_Splinter looked up, eyes stunned to see the shadow-wolf again, larger and taller with thicker fur than their last encounter five years ago, saving him from an enemy who torments him._

_**"It's you,"**  he whispered. The wolf only side glanced at the humanoid-rat, before staring right back at the one who now calls himself the Rat King, snarling ferociously and exposing many rows of fangs._

**_"What is this creature? How is it inside your mind?"_ **

_Leo smirked; it seems clear that the human distracted himself on his sensei, that he didn't know that another presence has entered the humanoid-rat's mind. Also, because he doesn't seem to understand what certain abilities one who devotes to meditation can do, that he must still be new to using his psychic powers… And there's only one human he knows that has psychic powers, which he and his brothers had faced over a month ago._

**_"That is a good question. Isn't it...? Victor Falco..."_ **

_The Rat King, revealed as Victor Falco, and Hamato Yoshi turned their heads to see the blue-masked turtle within the dark parts of Splinter's mind with them, glaring at the one responsible for the plight going on in the city._

_"Musuko!"_ _Splinter called out, watching his eldest-son slowly walk towards him, keeping his gaze locked on to the enemy before them like the shadow-wolf continues to do._

_**"It's been awhile, hasn't it, Victor?"**  Leo greeted, a smirk played on his face but never letting loose his glare.  **"I'd ask how you've been, but judging from that overgrown sunhat and wearing all black, I'm guessing you've encountered with an unfortunate event, that also gave you the ability to communicate and control them. And something tells me, it's mutagen. Am I right?"**_

_He clearly hit a nerve, a grimace can be heard from the human._

**_"You may act so clever, Boy, but you and your vile brothers underestimate what I'm capable of doing from our last encounter. Now, I have my brothers by my side to aid me and soon, your own father shall be by my side as my eyes and protector."_ **

_The shadow-wolf bark with such ferocity, forcing Victor to take a step back from the warning bark. Leo only glared._

**_"Well, my brothers and I don't appreciate you attempting to turn our sensei into your puppet, a_ ** _slave **would be more precise in this conversation, like you've done to all the rats who are under your control to cause mayhem onto the city. And, because you're causing my master pain and bringing up his traumatic past to get to him, I'm gonna ask you leave right now, before I let my friend here decapitate you and slice your chest to devour your organs."**_

_To prove his warning to be true, the shadow-wolf sprang up and was able to scratch through the black-coat, before Victor pulled away on time before the claws nearly scraped the skin of his chest._

**_"You cannot kill me, Boy. You don't even know where exactly in the city I am taking refugee at this moment."_ **

**_"Perhaps, but that doesn't mean you can't feel pain when in the mind of another."_ ** _Leo countered, as the shadow-wolf slowly circled the human. **"As we can plainly see, in the Conscience World and in his own mind, Splinter is expressing clear signs of pain and exhaustion from you attacking his mind. Even when he awakens, the pain will still linger and any injuries you imprinted upon him while in the Subconscious World shall remain on him, mentally, until his mind heals."**_

_Victor only grimaced at him._

**_"What is your point, Turtle?"_ **

**_"Simple,"_ ** _he answered. **"Any injuries you sustain in the Subconscious World, will effect you as well, as if we were in your mind instead of my Master's. So, if you were to be killed in another person's mind or even in your own, there are two results that'll happen to you: First, the near-death experience will haunt you in the back of your mind and any wounds you sustained before your 'death', will effect your body however it does in actual life. Or two, if you're not careful, your mind will truly believe that you succumb to death, that you'll end in a deep coma... Or pretty much will die, in an instant.*"**_

_Splinter and the Rat King looked at the blue-masked turtle, stunned by his conclusion of what Victor Falco's fate shall be if he were to be killed in the humanoid-rat's mind. He may not have his previous powers to predict an opponents movement, but the Rat King can sense Leo wasn't lying and, with a single command, both he and the shadow-wolf will attack him and kill him when they get the chance. Even in the subconscious, he's no match to take on either one of them, let alone both at the same time._

**_"...Very well."_ ** _It's pretty clear he hates to admit defeat, but proves to not be a fool to know when he has to surrender. **"I shall leave, for now. But, know this, Turtle: The moment you leave, I will have him, as my eyes and bodyguard. Just you wait... He shall be** mine **, as will all of New York, as their king."**_

_He slowly backed away towards the darkness, letting out a snickering chuckle that echoed all around them, before he vanished. Neither Splinter nor Leonardo can feel his presence, indicating that Victor Falco has left the humanoid-rat's mind... For now._

_The shadow-wolf stalked over to Leo, a white-glow surrounding its body as the fifteen year-old kneeled to be even level with the beast and the moment it rest its forehead against the turtle's, it vanished before Splinter's eyes. The fifty year-old father got to his feet, shaky and unstable to sustain his weight from the pain going through his head. Leo immediately was at his side, silently offering assistance for his sensei to lean against him for support._

_"Arigato, Musuko."_ _He groaned out, holding his head with one of his paws. It may all be in his head right now, but they knew the pain will be there when he wakes up. **"Leonardo, where are-?"**_

_**"We are all back in the Lair, including April."** He answered, easing Splinter's concern.  **"You didn't show any signs of sensing us returning from the surface. The only idea we had was to poke you, but I decided to reach you through your mind before they have Mikey check to see how deep you are in your sleep."**_

_His legs continued shaking, which the blue-masked turtle decided to help ease Splinter to kneel, then to lay down when it's clear his body, even in a dream, is completely overrun and overly stressed by the Rat King's influence to turn him into a slave. He pulled his hand away for only a few seconds before the rat made a quick grab for his eldest-son's hand, not wanting to lose any contact with one of his children right now. Not when he needs them right now, to be his strength to fight off against Victor Falco._

_Leo didn't say anything, allowing his sensei to grasp onto his hand, while placing his left-hand to the humanoid-rat's forehead, feeling a mild fever to warn the turtle how serious the Rat King's torment is effecting the fifty year-old father._

_"Anata wa mewosamasu hitsuyō ga arimasu_ (You need to wake up), _**Sensei."**_ _He glared up at the darkness, sensing out for any other presence that can still hint Victor Falco could be ready to infiltrate Splinter's mind, again. **"You're more vulnerable in your sleeps, than when you are awake. He'll use your own past against you, to force you to see what he wants you to see to surrender and accept his offer to be part of his 'family'.** -He can see how much stress this was putting onto his master's mind, but even he knew his son speaks the truth.-  **I know how much strain this is putting on your mind, but I swear to you, we're going to find Victor Falco and put a stop to this madness. That's why, you need to keep fighting and to never give up."**_

_Hamato Yoshi stared into his son's Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes what felt like minutes, before he nodded his head. The tightening grip in his hand told Leo of his sensei's hesitance to wanna release any contact with him, but finally allowed the turtle to pull away from him and stand before him. The darkness slowly crept up the two beings, though none were afraid of what it'll do to them when they know they're beginning to wake up._

**_"We shall be there, when you awaken."_ ** _Then, as if like a magician, his body burst and scattered into ravens, flying off into the darkness before the humanoid-rat allowed himself to close his eyes and re-enter the Conscious World like his son just did._

* * *

"Michelangelo is awesome!"

As Leo expected to happen, once given the Naginata, Michelangelo used the one of the ends to lift part of Splinter's right-lip to make it move and tried imitating his voice to sound like Hamato Yoshi. Raphael, Donatello, April and even Karasu gave him annoyed looks at his childish antics when he should be taking the situation seriously if their father still isn't responding to what the youngest-turtle is doing to him. They barely waited fifteen seconds to see if Leonardo was truly out of it like Splinter, after they saw the glowing light in his eyes, when they had Mikey poke both him and their sensei.

"He is the smartest, handsomest, butt-kicking-est of all my…" Before he could finish whatever he wanted to say, Hamato Yoshi snapped his eyes open, grabbed for the end of the Naginata that was against his lip and forced Mikey to let go with a firm jerk of the staff to the counter near the turnstiles. "…Sons." At least he get to finish his sentence, and retain his sense of humor.

As Raph and April went to help Mikey up, Leo slowly opened his eyes and immediately pushed his body to help Splinter stand up, using Don's Naginata to assist him.

"Sensei. Are you okay?" Donatello asked, taking his Bō staff when it was handed back to him.

"No, my sons. I am not." Splinter answered his genius son, leaning against his eldest-son to help him to the dojo. "It would seem your former adversary, Dr. Falco, has returned."

"Falco's behind this?" He asked both his father and oldest brother, as they all head for the dojo. "How is that even possible?"

Leo answered, in Splinter's place.

"No doubt, he found more mutagen to help him improve on his psychic abilities. Which, somehow, acquired him to have a telepathic connection to every rat in the city. And now calls himself, the 'Rat King'."

"Oh, great! So, now we're letting the bad guys name themselves? We gotta take him down!" Still too drowsy from entering their sensei's mind, Leo didn't say anything to Mikey's disproval of Victor Falco's new name that he, himself, didn't get the chance to recall him by.

"Yes, Michelangelo, you do." The humanoid-rat pressed a finger to his left-temple, hoping it'll help ease some of the headache coursing through his head. "The Rat King will not rest until he has total control over this city… And, my  _mind_.  _-He pulled himself away from Leonardo, who remained in his spot as he and the others watch him head for the shrine he made of his past life as human, along for his deceased wife and daughter.-_ Everything I knew is gone: My wife, my daughter, my clan, even my humanity.  _-He turned to his sons and April.-_ You are all I have left."

Leonardo turned his head away from Splinter, refusing to look into his eyes to glare at the floor.

 _'…He's wrong,'_ he thought to himself.

_He just said, with his own voice, that all of you, especially **you** , are all he has left. Why do you deny Father's claim of love for you, as he does for your brothers and April?_

_'…You know why… He doesn't need me when he has my brothers to be there for him, and he won't need me… When it's time.'_

_ …Your freedom? _

_'…Yes.'_

_ …If, or when you do leave the Clan, you'll break his heart. You're basically going to run away from your family, all because your mutation makes you think you're different from them. _

_'And when they figure out what I've been hiding from the them, since the day we were mutated, how do you think they'll react that I'm a humanoid-wolf/turtle?'_

_ Well… They would be surprised, of course, but you're their brother and Hamato Yoshi's son. They love you, no matter wh- _

_'I'm **not**  his son*!… Not his true son, at least. My brothers and I were born as turtles, making our actual parents turtles as well. The reason why we're classified as Hamato Yoshi's sons, is because of the mutagen fusing us with his human-DNA that made us into humanoid-turtles, before he ended up being mutated into a humanoid-rat after stepping on a rat's tail.'_

**_No matter true birth of origin, Alpha is Pup's Father and Pup is Alpha's young, since incident… Pup knows truth, and cannot hide fact of origin now from Alpha._ **

Leonardo didn't want to continue the conversation, pushing it aside to refocus what's actually important right now.

"Don't you worry, Sensei. We'll stop him." Raphael reassured their father.

"But we gotta find him first." Don reminded.

"When the Rat King attempted to take control of me, I could see into his mind. You will find his Lair in an abandoned utility junction beneath Herald Square." Splinter informed, which gave the turtles a lead to know where the area is. However, what they didn't know, is that Leo knew of the many rats that resides in the utility junction who are enemies to the colony he's a part of and their allies. So, no doubt, the rats who allowed themselves to serve under Victor Falco, will be ready to stop them from entering their nest.

"Let's go play exterminator." Don and Mikey thought the term Raph decided to use wasn't appropriate, with Splinter in the room, but none said anything to his choice of words. Seconds after he spoke, Splinter grasped his head and called out in pain, collapsing to his knees thanks to Leo and April catching him from both his sides.

"Fight him, Sensei." The blue-masked turtle gently urged him to his feet, allowing April to take his place to guide him to his bed.

"I will. Just, hurry." The fifty year-old father groaned out, not knowing of his family portrait of his past left on the ground beside Leo's feet.

"It's okay, guys." April gently assured the turtles, keeping her focus on her sensei and, at the moment, surrogate father-figure, with her own father not around to parent her like the humanoid-rat has been doing. "You go after the Rat King. I'll stay with Sensei."

As his brothers went to prepare themselves to getting the Rat King, Leo kneeled down and stared at the picture he now held in his hands. His eyes flashed with great sorrow for the two girls in the picture, one who would've been his older half-sister if Hamato Yoshi was able to find her before the fire consumed the whole Hamato Household, and the other… The one who, though he would never know the experience of having  _two_  adult parents raising him and his brothers, he knew from the beating of his own heart to know how much Tang Shen loves them as if they were also her sons from the very beginning.

A pang of guilt built up in his chest, already regretting on never acknowledging himself as Hamato Yoshi's son.

 _'… **Watashi o yurushite, watashinohaha**_ (Forgive me, my mother) _.'_ Rather than place the picture back on the shrine, he decided to take the picture with him, keeping it safe within the gap of his shell.  _'…Someday, when our Master's enemies are no more, I shall leave the Clan to take my place for the freedom I longed for... But right now, I shall remain here, where I'm needed.'_

_ …Very well. But you still have a problem: Even if you guys know where the Rat King is hiding, what are the chances that the rats under his control won't attack you when you have to fight him? _

_'Not all of those rats are our enemies, and from what I just saw from Ettore, I think he was able to get through to Seafra, Valerio and some of the others rats earlier ago… We're gonna need help from the Colony.'_

"Leo, we're all ready to go." Donatello informed the blue-masked turtle, already stocked themselves with each containing a smoke-bomb and a few shuriken. He hates to leave them alone in the dark of what he plans to do, but it something he has to do if they have any success on taking on the Rat King and the many rats under his control… Including Master Splinter, should he end up giving in to the human's power.

"Guys, I need you to go on ahead to the utility junction, without me."

* * *

 **Fifteen Minutes Later, in the Tunnels near Herald Square…  
** "What's going to happen to Splinter if we can't stop the Rat King?" Michelangelo questioned his two older-brothers, as they need to search for the marks Leo has left behind the last time they came across the utility junction. "Which, by the way, lamest villain name ever."

"Let it go already." It was the fifth time the orange-masked turtle brought up on how upset that he didn't pick the name for Victor Falco, and Donatello was already having a headache from hearing the same topic over and over.

"Nothing is going to happen to him." Raphael answered, trying to not think of the possibility of what'll happen to their father. "We're gonna stop the Rat King, and Splinter's going to be fine." Neither of the younger brothers said anything to their brother's claim; they can see he's trying to keep their hope up and not think of the results should they fail. "...Leo would agree with me."

"Speaking of Leo, when's he going to catch up?" Mikey asked, staring back at the tunnel they can from, waiting for any sign of their leader and big brother to come walking around the corner and continue the path towards the utility junction, together.

"Whatever he needed to do, that prevented him to be with us to find the Rat King, it must've been important if he's having us go on without him." Don thought up, before they all heard a rat run pass them.

Since it was the sewers, they didn't pay much attention to that rat. Then, two more rats ran passed them. Followed by another two rats… Then, they all turned back to the tunnels, where they heard a bunch of rat sounds and thundering sounds of multiple paws tapping against the ground. In seconds, it didn't take long before they saw a swarm of rats, scurrying in their direction… In front of the swarm, they see their big brother running from the multiple of rats coming for them.

"You gotta be kidding." Raphael was clearly getting tired of seeing so many rats in one day.

"Aw, ra-" Also, that Mikey tends to keep making the same rat comments, which he was able to stop him from doing the same comment for the fifteenth time.

"Jump and grab for the pipe above us!" Leonardo yelled out, before he pushed his feet to launch himself in the air and grabbed for the pipe. The moment he gave them an order, his brothers pushed themselves to run and launched themselves for the pipe, avoiding the swarm of rats that continued to run to the direction for the utility junction. Mikey, being the last turtle to jump, had to kick off two rats off his feet and didn't notice a brown-rat with white underneath from its jaw to its belly bit at the top of his head.

"Ow!" The moment the turtle called out his pain, the rat jumped off from his head to rejoin the other rats. "Oh, no. They've got the taste for turtles now!"

"Come on! Just keep moving!" Leo told them, using the pipes as monkey bars to continue on down the path for the utility junction. Above the pipes, the sound of paws tapping can be heard through the swarm of rats, but the blue-masked turtle didn't worry; the rats running over his and his brothers' heads are some of his friends from his Colony and also from their allies and even the rogues who wants to help the turtle to fight the Rat King.

"Leo!" Don called out, the sound of rats making it hard to hear and needs to raise his voice. "Where the shell were you?!"

Leo flashed him a confident smile of reassurance.

"I had to meet up with some friends of mine," he answered. "They'll meet us there, to help us."

"And what kind of 'friends' are we going to meet?" The purple-masked turtle asked, uncertain on what to feel from the answer he gained. "Are they humans?"

"They're not humans… They're basically our neighbors, living in the sewers like us." Was all the answer Don and the others got, as they continued heading for the utility junction. As they continued to their destination, Mikey decided to continue his rambling about the Rat King's name.

"I'm just saying, I can think up a million better names than the Rat King. There's 'Ratzilla', the 'Verminator', Lord Rattington."

"Drop it for now, Mikey. We're almost there." Leo told the youngest, turning to face him to see all of them are still hanging on. "The utility chamber should be on the other side of that wall."

"Uh, you mean that disgusting, furry, squirming wall?" Raphael asked, having everyone see a wall completely made of rats, no doubt the Rat King having them to prevent the turtles from reaching his Lair any time soon.

"How are we supposed to get past that?" Don questioned, not certain how to get through without getting bitten, scratched or even eaten alive by the swarm of rats in front and below them.

 _ **"Leo!"**_ Leonardo looked down to where the voice came from, seeing Seafra and Valerio standing on top of one of the two barrels on the ground.  _ **"These barrels, use them. We'll get our group out of the way."**_

He took their aid, without any hesitation.

"Raph, those barrels. Ventilate 'em."

"You got it." Two ninjas stars flew from his grasp, each hitting a barrel. Immediately, Seafra and Valerio hopped off of the barrels, guiding and pushing other rats out of the way who aren't being controlled.

"Uh, Leo, you do realize those chemicals are highly combustible." Don didn't get what his brother had in mind, as he pulled out Kamiizumi from its sheath.

"You don't say." He normally wouldn't do anything to harm other creatures, but because purposely follow Victor Falco and half no regrets to their past sins of harming humans and other Colonies, Leonardo didn't hesitate when he cut the wire and watching the electric hit the oil of one of the barrels, bursting into a small explosion of fire that forced the wall of rats to scatter and allowing their path to reopen. "Let's move."

It wasn't long before they found solid ground and the rats, rather than continue to run over the ground beneath them, scurried in opposite direction and head for the holes and shadows of the tunnels. The brothers let go of the pipes to continue on foot, entering a large room: Bricks crumbled on the ground, a few pipes bent and barely being stable of the few lines keeping them in place, slight flickering lights being seen from farther parts of the chamber and rats crawling through the holes of the walls.

Above them, they can see what used to be a second floor before the floor gave way from poor structure and negligence of workers health and safety, which lead to the utility junction being condemned. The sound of paws caught his ears, his nose telling him it's Ettore coming his way and climbing up his shell to sit on his shoulder.

 _ **"He's here,"**_ he grimaced.  _ **"Up there."**_ Looking higher, Leonardo saw what Ettore was pointing his nose at… His eyes flashing in anger and a low growl barely heard through his voice when he saw the same being he saw inside Splinter's mind: Victor Falco, now known as the Rat King.

The large-hat covers the top-half of his head, the black-coat concealing whatever experience he just went through to cause the burn and changes from the mutagen.

"Ah, my turtle friends, we meet again." On his left-shoulder, an albino-rat with a cut on his right-ear, came up from hiding, sniffing the air and eyeing the turtles below him and his master, glaring daggers at the blue-masked turtle and the pure-black rat on his shoulder.

"Except last time, Falco, you weren't wearing a sad Halloween costume." Raphael commented, which ended with him and the younger turtles to laugh. Leo wasn't laughing, only glaring at the man who, upon closer look, saw a blindfold covering his eyes.

"I am the Rat King!" His voice boomed out, summoning other rats to crawl out from their hiding spots and stand above the turtles with their master, gazing down at what they hope to be their meal.

 _*Cough* *Cough* *Cough*_ "Lame." Mikey didn't even try to hide out what he said behind the fake coughing. Leo can hear other rats on the same level as him and his brothers, no doubt his friends awaiting to assist him against any of the rats who'll attack if ordered to.

"Forgive us, your  _majesty_ , but I'm afraid we have to remove you from your position of power." He growled out to the Rat King, reaching for his swords… Then, the sounds of birds chirping interrupted what was going to be their fight, coming straight from Donatello's T-Phone.

"Way to ruin the moment, Donnie." Raph said to the younger-brother, who immediately reached for his phone and turned his shell to talk without anybody looking at him to embarrass him.

"Uh, April, now's not really the best time."

 _"Donnie, it's Splinter. He's gone."_ Her voice, frantic and worried, can be heard through the T-Phone.

"Gone? Gone where?"

"Here…" A voice from afar distance answered Don's question, bringing all four turtles to turn and see a tall figure from the other side of the room slowly walking at the top of stairs… Revealing to being their sensei, their own  _father_ : Hamato "Splinter" Yoshi. He stood high and tall, no expression whatsoever… His Reddish-brown eyes, completely clouded in red… A sword tied next to his waist.

_ Father…! _

**_False Alpha… Got Alpha…_ **

Both his Conscience and Instinct were just as stunned as Leo and his brothers, though the blue-masked turtle pushed his stunned reaction behind and glared at the sword next to his sensei.

"It's like his brain is completely turned off." Donatello said, seeing no reaction that told them of Splinter fighting for control.

"You mean like Mikey?" At the same time, both Raph and Mikey said the exact same words at the exact moment.

"Dude, you are so predictable."

 _'And the both of you are going to end up in body casts, if you decide now is a good time to be making jokes.'_ "Sensei, snap out of it." He wouldn't be giving orders to his sensei, but he needs to see something to know Splinter is trying to break control.

"You waste your words," the humanoid-rat said. "This is where I belong, with my brothers."

"He is mine now." Rat King declared, satisfaction clearly can be heard in his voice. "Imagine my delight when I realized that controlling your master would not only make me invincible, but would also be the key to your demise." As if to celebrate, he let out his own version of an evil laugh, echoing all around the chamber, as the rats stared down at the four turtles and the humanoid-rat that their king will use to do what he wanted to do since knowing of their existence. "Splinter,  _destroy_  them."

As his 'master' ordered him to, Splinter calmly walked down the sets of stairs before him. Leonardo knew he would do so; showing no signs of fighting his control, restricting or even a single twitch. Ettore slightly trembled at the humanoid-rat coming before his friend and his brothers. Even if he were being controlled, no rat ever wants to see a quarrel between a father and his children that could lead one or the both of them to their deaths.

"Sensei, dont!" Leo cried out, a hint of fear barely masked by his concern for his sensei.  _'He'll go all out, meaning the guys won't be able to protect themselves once Master Splinter reveals the truth behind our training session. Please, let there be a sign to reach him!'_

From the call of his voice, Splinter stopped in his steps… Eyes widened a bit, in a fatherly concern. Leo saw it! However, just as that hope first appeared, it immediately went away and the red-hazed eyes narrowed right back at them. The Rat King must've sensed what was happening and pushed his powers further to regain control of Splinter's mind. Once again, he continued down the stairs, his face showing his intention to brutally harm his sons.

"Are we really going to do this?" Don asked, pulling out his Naginata.

"Remember, we did beat him once… Kind of." Raph stated, pulling out his sais and Mikey bringing out his Kusarigama Nunchakus. While gazing into the humanoid-rat's red-eyes, Leo tries to figure out what to do.

_ You guys can't do this! Even if you can keep up with him, you can't harm Father! _

**_What Pup and Kins can do? Alpha ordered to kill own pups and not break away from control, Pup and Kins will perish._ **

Ettore can see the difficult expression in Leo's eyes, obviously fighting with his thoughts on what he should do.

 _ **"Leo… You need to try and reach out to him, again."**_ He glared up at the Rat King, feeling the human trying to enter his mind and control him but wasn't going to fall for his voice a second time.  ** _"If only the others could see what he's doing is wrong, it might be enough to help your father to keep fighting."_**

Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes widen from the rat's words… He instantly got an idea.

"Wait." The blue-masked turtle said, raising a hand out to them. The three brothers stared at their leader, wondering if he has an idea to beat their sensei and stop the Rat King from controlling him. He sent a side-glance to them, whispering his plan to them. "I'll keep Victor Falco busy, to buy you guys some time to come up with a plan before he gives Sensei the order to strike." He slowly walked straight in the center, only a few feet away from the one who raised him since the day they were mutated.  _'Keep fighting, Sensei, and don't give up hope.'_ "Victor Falco."

Just the sound of his own name made the human grimace at his direction.

"I go by that name no more, Turtle. I am the Rat King!"

 _*Cough* *Cough* *Cough*_ "Still lame."  _*Cough* *Cough*_

 _'Drop it, Mikey.'_ "Don't take it personal,  _Rat King_ ; out of respect for Bushido, I tend to refer my opponents by either their current name they gained from birth, or the name that's been used in a great battle. And since it's your name from birth, I thought you'd be happy to be reminded of your current status to your 'loyal subjects'." The blindfold that was once removed concealed the glared he knew he was getting by the human above him. "Unfortunately, there's a different conversation I wish to discuss with you." That caught the Rat King's attention a bit by surprised. "Before you order our Master to kill us, I wish for you to clear up a few things for me. Consider it as a last request before our death, since you call yourself a king."

 _ **"Leo? What are you doing?"**_ Ettore asked, eyeing their allies who are wondering what their honorary member is doing.

"Buying time. I might be able to get some of these rats to come onto our side, if I choose my words correctly for what I'm about to say before them and Victor Falco." He whispered back, keeping his gaze on the Rat King. His brothers were just as puzzled as the rats, but forced themselves to refocus on thinking up a plan to take down Master Splinter.

"…Very well," the human replied. "Not like you'll need this information where you and your brothers are going. Nevertheless, ask away on what you want to know."

 _'Time to play a little game of "Clarity".'_  "How exactly did you gain your powers to control rats?"  _'I know how he gained it, but I need to hear how it all started.'_

"It's quite simple, my reptilian friend." The human answered. "Since our last encounter, I was able to find a canister of mutagen to help me continue my experiment. Unfortunately, the humans shunned my research and cut my fundings, resulting me to hide in the shadows to continue my experimentation. One night, an accident occurred and the building was set ablaze, resulting in my current condition. In a desperate act, I called out to the rats to help me escape and through their eyes, I can see the true plague upon our world. For it is not the rats who cause the spreading of disease and chaos, but humanity itself."

his answer intrigued Leonardo.

 _'That fire must've been massive, if it caused his body to be this severely disfigured and lead him to blindness._ _He even claimed that Dr. Rockwell discovered a way to temporary gain telekinesis power, until he could figure out a permanent results to his experiment… It seems that accident must've caused a permanent result, though only allowed him to communicate with rats from experimenting them.'_ "So, because the other humans found out about your nefarious intentions that they no longer support, you decide to renounce your origin and call yourself the Rat King? All because you claim to be able to control every  _single_  rat in the city?"

"They couldn't see what I was trying to do, to perfect humanity, and cast me aside as if I was nothing but vermin… Just like my brothers. And thanks to the knowledge I gained from learning the truth, they see me as their king and with their help, we shall rule the surface world!"

Many of the rats lifted their snouts in the air, standing on their hind legs and squeaking with glee, cheering for their king. While those on the bottom level didn't feel any joy at all, but all believe he's gone mad and can't believe they heeded his words the first time they heard him speak in their minds.

 _ **"He sure likes to hear himself talk."**_ Ettore suggested, flattening his ears from his tone of voice echoing in the utility chamber.

 _'You're telling me.'_ "Which is why you made the rats do your dirty work, by attacking the city and risking their own lives because you told them to do so?" The cheering of rats instantly went silent to his comment. A low growl could be heard from the human above them.

"I had them attack the city, to show our power to the humans and the time for all rats to no longer hide in the shadows."

"And by  _all_  rats, you also mean the ones you couldn't control or haven't controlled yet?" His brothers were a bit surprised by his remarks. "Which means, your claims on able to control every single rat in the city, is false. I mean, you call them your 'brothers' and have young, healthy males at your service… Where are the sisters? Where are the younglings? The adolescence? The elderly? Not here, because you can't get to them."

The white-rat on Victor's shoulder hissed to their direction.

**_"You dare to doubt the power of our king? He has taken total control of your father, which proves he has power over all rats!"_ **

Leo glared at the albino-rat, as Ettore and the other rats not under control are doing when he finally spoke to the humanoid-wolf/turtle.

"From your own point of view, it may seem like it. However, that doesn't prove your claim to being correct, on a count that  _you_ don't have the power. Don't you...?  _Aristotle_..."

A sharp gasp of shock left Victor's mouth, startling the younger turtles.

"You know his name?!" He snarled, placing a hand on top of the rat's head ."And you understood what he just said!"

Leo smirked.

"I've known that rat for months and let's just say, he's no friend to  _my_  friends or any of our allies, not after he killed nearly all the younglings from the Colony I bonded with since I was ten. So, it's not that much of a surprise to see him allying himself with a human to get back at those who refused to accept him as their 'leader'.  _-A clear sign of confusion can be seen on Victor's face, as Aristotle hissed at the turtle.-_ You're not the only one who can understand the rats, let alone form a certain bond with them. I mean, why else would some of them no longer wish to be under your command and are here to help me rescue their missing members you took away from them?"

Ettore leaned his head against the turtle's had, nuzzling against who he calls his brother, before glaring back at the Rat King and let out a hiss.

_**"Leo is part of my Colony, a member of my family. I could never bring myself to harm him, nor his pack, when they did nothing to us, and that goes for everyone here who knows whose been part of a family of rats."** _

Driven by Ettore's speech, the rats hiding in the shadows came out of hiding and stood beside the blue-masked turtle and his brothers, who were a bit freaked out of their approach before Michelangelo figured out that they're here to help them.

"Dudes, we have our own army of rats!" He exclaimed, already imagining himself as a general and wanting to pretend to give them a made-up plan to properly get pizza from the surface world to the Lair and become the ruler of pizza to the rats.

"Actually, Mikey, we're more of a small troop compared to Victor Falco's obvious larger number of rats he has on his side, which wouldn't make much of a difference on how to take him down." Donatello corrected, still fascinated by the rats, willingly, coming to stand beside them and not in control of the Rat King.

All the rats hissed at Victor Falco, hides raised and lips pulled back to show off their teeth.

"And unlike you, Victor, I don't force them to do what I want them to do, because they have complete freewill to leave whenever they want to. Heck, they can choose not to fight and leave right now, and I'll be just fine with that."

 _ **"And there's no chance in hell, that we'll abandon him!"**_ Seafra added in, pushing the Rat King's voice out from his mind. The grimace grew on the human's face, removing his blindfold as if thinking that'll increase his efforts to control the rats below him and only ended up being rejected by all of them.

"You claim to have form a bond with them, just as I have when I regained my telekinesis powers, but how can you say what I'm doing is wrong when I'm trying to restore what's been taken from us by the humans?  _-His blind eyes searched out for the rats below him.-_ Why would you reject me, brothers, when I promise you a futuristic paradise to rise above the humans?"

Leo can see a lot of the rats above him taking in what he's saying to their king, as they eyed down and saw how the rats willingly came to Leo and can see the true companionship between the turtle and their fellow rat-people. It was a clear sign that they're starting to fight the control.

_It's working. Keep going!_

"I'll lay out a few things for you, Victor Falco: First off, you're still a human; you don't have whiskers, you don't have a tail, no fangs nor claws, or even signs of fur. You may have made contact with the rats, but you've been injecting the mutagen into your head to avoid any cross mutation between your humanity and the rats. Therefore, calling them your brothers, even by stating because rats and humans have similar chemistry, is more false than saying a turtle will fly like a bird, just because both came out from eggs."

_Not sure if that actually helps prove a point, but it kinda does make sense._

"Second, you call yourself their king… Tell me what is a king's duty to his  _people._ "

The Rat King smirked at the turtle's request.

"A king's duty is to lead his people, and to guide them in the darkest time of war, famine and death. To have all the answers to solve all their problems, and to lead them to a better life."

Leo smirked back at the human above him.

_'Just as I expect him to answer with.'_

**_False Alpha still Man… No knowledge of Earth Young, at all._ **

"You'd be right… In human society. But…  _-The Rat King's smirk came off his wrinkled face-_  There's a problem to your self-given title, Victor Falco: Rats don't have kings, no emperors or even rulers. There are leaders,  _alphas_. And unlike human leaders, animal rules, laws and society differ from Man's. For you see, they don't view themselves any better or believe themselves more important than their followers."

"And you would know this, yourself?" Rat King asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

_**Careful, Pup. Mustn't reveal secret of own origin.** _

"My brothers and I are born as turtles,  _before_  the mutagen turned us into humanoid-turtles. And while we act and do what normal  _humans_  would do, we still have our animalistic instincts and anatomy to still classify us as turtles. And because we don't follow human society because of our,  _current_  appearances, then yes. Again, we live like humans and learn of the ways humans developed for hundreds, even a few thousands of years. However, our instincts remind us of our true heritage and the teachings animals live by. And it's because of that single difference, you still retain your humanity and can never be seen as any form of kinship with the rats you call 'brothers' by referring to yourself as 'King'."

Some of the rat above their heads shook, let out low hissing sounds and when blinking their eyes, saw the red-hazes gone and the instinct they saw the Rat King, they scurried away from him and head for the bottom floor to be alongside the Colonies and friends they haven't seen in days.

"No, brothers!" Victor called out, reaching a hand towards the rats running away from him. "Don't listen to him! He's the enemy!  _I_  am trying to reclaim the city for ourselves, as our kingdom!"

"A 'kingdom', you say?" Leonardo chuckled. "In rat's culture, there's no kingdom. There are den, turf, territory, pack and most of all, colonies. You still speak as a human would, not a rat. Which brings me to another point to bring up: The way you treated the rats,  _before_ your  _accident_."

"Enough!" The fifteen year-old is pushing a number of buttons and has already lost the respect of some of his 'brothers' to his words too many. "There's nothing to speak about from the past! It's all been put behind me, and now we only focus on the future!  _-He turned his blind eyes to Hamato Yoshi-_ Splinter, kill them now!"

Three rats that day on his shoulders and the top of his head got off, as Splinter pulled out his sword. Slowly, Leonardo pulled out Musashi and Kamiizumi from their scabbards, aiming the both of them at his sensei... The two swords' previous master before Leonardo.

"Ettore." Just saying the black-rat's name, Leo gave the order to have him and the rats to scurry away from what they knew is going to be a battle between the Hamato Clan.

 _ **"Leo, you and your brothers better help your father break away from the human's control. We'll do what we can to help convince as many of the rats to snap out of it."**_ Ettore let out a few screeching sounds, leading the rest of the rats to follow him and make themselves useful to freeing their colony members.

_**Pup... Be careful, and neither self nor Kins hesitate...** _

_...Do what you have to do... Just, don't-..._

_'If it ever comes down to it... **I**  shall be the one to fall, by his own hands.' _He glanced towards his brothers, silently asking if they thought up it a plan that they can use in their fight with Splinter. Unfortunately, the regretful expression on Donatello's face told him that they didn't have one.  _'Well, I guess there's only one thing to say.'_ "Take Sensei down, no hesitation."

As a unit, they charged at full speed towards their sensei, launched themselves in the air and brought down their weapons. Leo's aim to strike and wound, while his brothers went to subdue their father by hitting him in the head or to pin him in place. All four weapons missed their target; Splinter already predicted what would happen and with great speed, was now behind them.

Leonardo already sensed him being behind them and crossed his blades in front of him to block the attack his sensei delivered to him and his brothers, who only had enough time to turn their heads and be knocked off from their feet. Michelangelo was sent to a ledge on the third floor, while Raphael remained on the first floor but got his shell slammed in the far corner, Donatello flew towards the second floor and got his head slammed back into his shell by a pipe, and Leonardo merely skidded where he remained.

"I just had a horrible realization: He's been going easy on us all these years!" Don exclaimed, no longer confident they'll be able to take their father down.

"Finally figured that out? About time." Leonardo replied, glaring at the humanoid-rat who showed no mercy for any of them to attack him again.

"' _Finally_  figured it out'? What's that supposed to mean?" Don questioned his brother, charging his father and launching himself in the air, twirling his Naginata Bō over his head before bringing it down with a loud  ** _SMACK_**  against the ground. With great speed, the purple-masked turtle made quick jabs with the bottom end of the Bō, hoping to hit a mark to make him flinch and get the chance to get him on his back.

Splinter dodged every single jab his son sent to him and when Don tried getting him from above, used his sword to slap the Naginata from his hand and in the air. Now completely weaponless and defenseless, Splinter sent a painful jab to his plastron and sent him flying backwards to the ground.

"Donnie!" Mikey called out, bringing out his Kusarigama and after a few spins in the air, sent the end not containing a scythe down to his father, aiming for the left-side temple of the head for a concussion. Splinter pulled his head back and the chain wrapped itself around his sword, allowing him to pull the chain down and Mikey to fly from his spot to the second floor and slamming shell-first to the wall, landing on his plastron on the first floor. "Whoa!"

Raphael charged, sais-first, at his father.

"Nobody hits Mikey but me!" He yelled, twisting his body and gabbing at the air where he last saw the humanoid-rat. His ears caught the rustling sound of fabric in the wind, looking up to see Splinter curl in a ball in the middle of the air before one of his foot slammed him in the face and land in front of Leonardo on the ground.

"And this is what happens when you deceive your sons by going easy on them, for all these years." Leo stated, waiting for Splinter to come at him first. "And you call yourself a Ninja Master, when you can't even fight off a mad-man who controls  _normal_  rats and lies about caring for them when he knows how he truly treats them."

Splinter ran to him, signaling the blue-masked turtle to do the same, clenching tightly to the hilt of Musashi and Kamiizumi. Then, they clashed blades with each other, Splinter's sword scraping over both of Leo's swords, going into offense while the turtle goes into the defense. The teen jumped in the air, allowing his sensei to use his strength to push him back, landing on his feet before jumping over the rat's head when he tried to strike him. Landing behind the adult's back, Leo held up Kamiizumi for another swing from the thinner-sword and forced himself to do a sideways spin flip to get behind him again.

**_Difficult to strike moving target._ **

_'Yeah, but for how long will I be able to keep this up?'_ Splinter struck again, and this time, when he twisted himself to roll off his arm, Leo delivered a kick to his back. "Seems you can't even go at your full potential, with that human barking orders in your head like a dog in a pet show."

"Splinter!" By the command yell of his 'master', the hunched over humanoid-rat got back to his feet and brought down his blade, which was easily blocked by both blades crossed over his target. The second time he swung his sword, Leo once again allowed gravity to pull him back and flipped himself to kneel on the ground.

"Kinda proving more of my point, Victor! Which leads me to believe you don't want your 'loyal subjects' to know how you viewed them as vermin, just like any other  _normal **human**  _would see rats as _. -He stood the moment Splinter jumped in the air and brought his sword down, blocking the attack with both of his blades.-_ Although, to a rat, that isn't as bad as learning how you killed the rats you capture by experimenting on them…  _-He pushed forward, forcing Splinter a step or two backwards from the strength his eldest son used to hold him in place-_ Which lead to you gaining the power to telepathically talk to the rats, who you willingly ordered to get hurt or even killed when roaming the streets in the middle of the day."

Many of the rats hissed, screeched in pain as the red-haze in their eyes flashed between their normal color to the red-haze.

"My brothers and I heard enough of your lies, vile creature." Rat King's eyes flashed red, enforcing Splinter to push back and, with his stronger strength, unarmed the blue-masked turtle of his weapons, his  _fangs_ , sending both blades to opposite direction. The instant he has no weapon, the rat delivered a kick that sent Leo skidding to the ground on his shell.

A low growl could be heard from Leo, struggling to stand but his body forced him to land on his side, coughing a substance from his throat which he soon saw that it was blood.

"If I was lying, then why aren't you answering any of my questions or countering my statements to prove your actions and motives are pure and innocent?" He asked, getting on his hands and feet to help him keep moving. "Even if you are blind and need the rats to see, you wouldn't be hiding in the shadows while the rats invaded the city. You would've came up to the surface and given them exact commands to avoid any casualties, not to just run and cause mayhem that would lead to property damage and fatal injuries."

"I do not order them on how to take the city for us!" Victor yelled, as Splinter ran at Leo and brought down his blade, missing from the swiftness of speed the turtle used when running on all-fours and getting behind the humanoid-rat. "They are free to choose what they desire to do."

 _'Got it. The final push…'_ "Well, then, if that's the case… Free them." A complete look of confusion can be seen on Victor's wrinkled face, taken back to Leonardo's suggestion on what he should do. "You claim they're free to choose for themselves. If that's so, then release them from your control.  _-His brothers slowly began to regain strength into their bodies, still in the process on catching their breaths from the beat down they received from their father.-_ You say they're not your slaves, but you go into their heads to heed your every command, just like you're continuously doing to our sensei. If you truly do care for them, as you stated, then let them decide if they want to leave or stay, of their own volition."

Aristotle snarled at the turtle.

 _ **"Our king doesn't have to prove anything!"**_ The albino-rat screeched, as some of the rats beside them agreed.  _ **"He can do whatever he wants, which includes to whether use his powers to listen or not! As for those who gotten themselves hurt or even killed in the process for the right to claim the city, as you would know, sacrifices are intended to be made for a greater cause."**_

Leo forced himself to backflip from Splinter, then rolled to the side from the kick and slide on his shell when his opponents sword stab into the ground four times when aiming for his legs.

"I expect  _you_  to say something like that, from how  _you_  decided to sacrifice those younglings and expecting females by killing them to prove how a leader should become like that murderous human, Jack the Ripper."

Almost every single rat in the utility junction was screeching, more than half because they're trying to free themselves from the Rat King's control and the rest for the turtle to spew lies to the one they willingly appointed as their king.

"As for your  _king_ , rather he would release you from his powers or not, will prove the true character to us all: If he releases the rats from his control, then those who didn't want to follow him will turn against him and still being new to his powers, he'll run the risk of decontrolling our master as well, making it difficult to manipulate him and the others back into his control for a second time. If he refuses to let you all go, then that will show his unwillingness to surrender his pawns and render him powerless the less rats he has to be his eyes and do his bidding."

His eyes caught glimpses of his colony friends and their allies beside certain amount of rats losing the red-haze and leading them out of the chamber, meaning they're free from Rat King's power and will no longer heed him. Victor Falco also took notice of the rats leaving the room, extending his hands out towards the fleeing rats.

"No! Stop! Brothers!" None of them stop to his call and some even looked back and hissed at him, indicating to rejecting him and his voice in their heads, heading for their colonies and getting as far away from the human as possible. Leo smiled at the rats leaving, before having a smug smirk on his face when Victor glared down at his direction. "You will pay for this!"

Turning back to the humanoid-rat, Leonardo barely had enough time to catch the blade in-between his hands, fighting to keep it up and away from him, until Splinter swiped it to the side, the tip cutting into the turtle's right-hand, then kicking him back down on his back. This time, he placed his left-foot on Leo's plastron, pinning him to the ground and pointing a blade at the turtle's face, his blood gliding off the tip and landing on his chest and stomach.

Victor Falco smiled wickedly at the scene before him. He's finally going to get his revenge on the turtles. Him, Aristotle and the other rats who stayed at his side are  _all_  going to get back for the blue-masked turtle taking away many of their colony members from him.

Leonardo's brothers attempted to attack Splinter to rescue their big brother, but knew they wouldn't make it on time before the blade would struck Leo. They could only watch, as Splinter raised his sword over his head.

"Finish him…!"

_The picture! Quickly! Remind him who he is!_

"Wait!" Leo coughed up from the foot stepping directly over his stomach, leaning up a bit to grab for the item he kept safe in his shell. "Remember who you are… Hamato Yoshi!"

The sword slowly lowered, as the humanoid-rat stared at the picture his eldest child held in his bleeding hand, looking at his past-self standing beside his decreased wife and daughter.

"…Hmmm…?" Recollection slightly flashed in his red-hazed eyes. A sign of hesitation.

"Donnie, Raph, now!"

By their leader's command, the two mid-brothers sprang up at their father, pulling him away from the blue-masked turtle and pinning him too the ground. Michelangelo helped his big brother to his feet before joining their two brothers to keep the struggling rat still.

_'He trying to fight it, but it won't let him go!'_

**_False Alpha use Alpha's emotions and fear on Alpha... Ease Alpha's distress._ **

_'...His loneliness... Back in his dreams, Victor brought up his past, his loss... He could've also used us, making him fear we'll leave him and don't need him anymore.'_

_You know what you need to say, Leo... For him, please ..!_

There wasn't anything to discuss in this matter... And like that, he said it.

"...Please…  _ **Otōsan**_ (Father)..." Splinter, Hamato Yoshi, froze in his spot, eyes widening to what he just heard from his eldest son, looking up at his four sons pinning him, eyes flashing with concern and wanting their father to come back to them. "We  _need_  you."

And in his heart, Splinter wanted to hear those very words from his sons. To know that his  _babies_ won't leave him. That they still needed him... Just as much as he still needs them.

"Don't listen to him, Brother." The Rat King appeared before the Hamato Clan. "Your place is with me!"

The humanoid-rat withered beneath his sons... Then, his eyes snapped open and the turtles found themselves on the ground, with Splinter standing over Leonardo and holding Musashi in his grasp, his other hand gripping the turtle's neck. Rather than try to fight, Leo remained still. There was no use to continue fighting when his body is suffering damage to be coughing up blood and with no weapons to aid him to take control of the battle, Leo can't defeat his sensei... Especially when he has one of his swords in his hands, an extended part of himself as his fangs that the Rat King will order him to kill him with.

_'It is not your fault, Master Splinter. Nor yours, Musashi. Just please, snap out of it and spare your sons, my brothers.'_

"My place...  _-Splinter closed his eyes in that moment, nobody but Leo talking notice of his grip on the teen's neck slowly releasing him.-_ is with my sons!" His eyes snapped open, gone was the red-haze and the reddish-brown eyes of his true eyes as Hamato Yoshi show his freedom from Victor Falco's control.

With great speed, he charged towards the Rat King and, with just the tip of his two fingers, pressed them against the human and a gush of wind blew him off his feet. He slammed his back to the wall on the second floor and fell face first to the ground, not moving to pick himself up but still breathing, revealing he's still alive.

Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo were eye-wide on what just happened, before they ran to the humanoid-rat and wrapped him in a group hug.

 _ **"**_ **Otōsan!"** The three cried in unison. Splinter smiled down at his sons, before the sound of rats caught their attention and watch as the rats ran for Victor Falco's unconscious form and, as they scurried, covered his body with their own to carry him away into the darkness.

"And that's the last we'll see of Count Ratula." Mikey, once again, attempted a new name for Victor Falco, only to see the others not approving the name. He finally gave up. "Yeah, alright. It's Rat King. But I'm naming the next one."

While this was going on, none of them noticed Leonardo slowly getting to his feet and retrieving his swords… Before he immediately took off and head straight for the sewers, needing to check on something before attending to Master Splinter.

* * *

 **Forty Minutes Later, in the Lair's Dojo…  
** Hamato Yoshi sat underneath the tree, meditating as he would normally do in the evening. However, today, this mediation is more to healing his mind and reassurance that he's truly free from the Rat King. Although, a part of his mind prevented him from fully entering the Astral Plane to calm his injured mind when his eldest-son, Leonardo, left the utility chamber and has yet to return home when they went back to the Lair.

April went home after checking over the turtles and their father, relieved and happy to see her sensei is back to normal but concern when she didn't see Leo with them. The others wanted to go look for him, but needed to treat some of their wounds they sustained from their fight… With  _Splinter_. Their father was deeply saddened from the pain he inflicted onto his sons. Even if those wounds were scrapes and bruises, knowing that the fact is  _he_  harmed them, manipulated or not, is more than enough to make him incapable to forgive himself.

A presence to his left caught his attention, pulling him from his meditation… It was Leonardo. Splinter immediately got to his feet, facing his eldest-son and immediately checked him over. Leo grabbed for both his hands, his expression calm and no sign of anger in his eyes, as he prevented his sensei from looking at the injuries the turtle treated, himself.

"I'm fine, Sensei." He gently reassured, releasing the hands from his grasp. "…Are you feeling all right?"

Always has to be the one to put others before himself, a trait he had for as long as he could remember. As a leader, it's one of the strongest merits to possess… As a son, it becomes his greatest downfall if that quality puts his own life to death. Splinter let out a deep sigh and wrapped his arms around his eldest son, pulling him to a firm but gentle hug.

"Thanks to you, I am." As he held his son, he noticed a slight tensing flinch when his paws rested on the forest-like skin of his son. Splinter also feel Leo turning his head against his shoulder, steering his gaze away from the humanoid-rat to behind his shoulder, and has yet to raise his arms to return the embrace*.  _'Is he angry with me? Does he blame me, for not being strong enough to fight off Victor Falco's control?'_

"You hesitated, and hesitation leads to vulnerability." Leonardo stated, raising both his hands to grip Splinter's elbows. "I'm sorry for taking the picture, and for my blood to stain the back of the picture frame."

Splinter wasn't in the least upset of his family picture with Tang Shen and Miwa being taken without his acknowledgement, when it's been brought back home and has aided the turtles to bring him out of the Rat King's control. Learning that the blood came from the hand he cut with his own sword, that's what truly upsets the father more. That thought also brought in a question he wanted to know the answer to.

"My son, where have you been?" He asked, pulling back to look down at the fifteen year-old's face, who still has his face looking over his shoulder. "Your brothers and I were worried when you left the utility junction and didn't know of your whereabouts. Please, tell me, where were you?"

The blue-masked turtle went silent for half a minute, before he let out a deep sigh.

"I had to check on them," he answered. "I needed to be certain that they're really free from Victor Falco.  _-He finally stared up to look into Splinter's eyes, no sign of anger, sadness of even joy can be seen in his Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes.-_ They're my friends... They  _saved_  me, five years ago." He didn't need to say anymore, not after saying those last three words that Splinter instantly understood what he said to him.

He gave a firm nod to the blue-masked turtle, then slowly, with obvious hesitation, released him from his hold. After giving him another bow of respect to his sensei, Leonardo slowly made his way out from the dojo… Then, at the front of the shoji, he stopped.

"What I said back there, at the utility chamber… I meant it, when I said that we needed you." He didn't turn his head to look behind, but he can sense how surprised Splinter was to what he just said. He let out a deep sigh. "I also want to say this: I don't know why you won't take my brothers' training more seriously like you did the three weeks intensive training you put us through, especially after we stopped Shredder's plan from incinerating the sewers with the acid. However, your reasons are your own and for that, I won't pry for you to tell me… Just as you hid the truth of their progress until it was revealed today, I held back when we fought and will continue to do so until you start taking their training more seriously. And after our encounter with the Rat King, I think it better shows how much further we need to take our training to."

With that said, he left the dojo, leaving Hamato Yoshi to take his words to heart on what he was trying to say to him.

_"We're always going to need you, no matter what. Either as our sensei… Or, as our **father**."_

**TBC**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *: I kinda feel like the guys get his name wrong on purpose some times, so I decided Leo will be the only one to get his name right. You know what would've been funny? If one of them actually said his name right and he goes, "It's Baxter Sto-! Oh, wait, that's what you just said… Finally! You got my name right!"… Does anybody remember another show, where they got a character's name wrong a lot? In Pokémon, where they keep forgetting a Team Rocket member's name: Butch.
> 
> *: We rarely see Leo play any sort of video games, besides that pinball machine and the old boxing game in season 3. So, I decided there are times that he does play video games like his brothers do. However, he prefer games that includes upgrading his characters moves, levels, abilities or anything he thinks that'll give him ideas on how to improve on his training.
> 
> *: You guys may not agree with me, but the Rat King entering Splinter's mind/sleep seems a bit more similar to the turtles, when they were trapped in their dreams by the Dream Beavers. So, to me, he could've easily killed Splinter within his subconscious, if he wanted to, instead of having him become his bodyguard.
> 
> *: You know? I'm kinda surprised you guys didn't notice that (in my story… And, perhaps in some the shows, as well) Leo rarely refers to Splinter as his father, and calls him either "Sensei", "Master Splinter" or even "Master". Also, that his Conscience calls him "Father", while his Instinct calls him "Alpha".
> 
> *: Do you guys remember TMNT 2k3, "The Ultimate Ninja" episode? When Leo defeated the Daimyo's son and the others came to congratulate him, Splinter went up and hugged him… Did anybody else saw the look Leo had on his face when his sensei, his father hugged him? He looked as if he didn't know what Splinter was doing, let alone why he's hugging him in the first place.
> 
> Also, some of you may be wondering from my last chapter: "With Bradford as a mutated-dog, shouldn't he be able to tell Leo is a humanoid-wolf/turtle, like Murakami and White Death?" Well, allow me to explain:
> 
> White Death can tell Leo's part wolf, because he's an enhanced mutated animal. His senses has been heightened three times better when Kraang experimented on him, so he's able to smell the genetic of wolf inside Leo.
> 
> While Murakami, in my chapter: "Declaration of War", can sense another person's aura. What that mean is, not only can he tell where a person is within his surrounding, but can literally "see" another person's aura. The show never said he was born blind, or ever explained how he ended up blind. They also never explained how he's so good with cooking like a ninja. So, in my story, he was also a ninja master in Japan, until a battle cost him his sight. Because he's also a ninja master, he learned how to detect aura to help him "see" other people to tell if they're good or evil. When seeing an aura of an animal, the color and personality will give off shapes to inform him what animal he sees before him. However, any non-domesticated animals will give off a darker color and a feral feeling that Murakami will be able to tell from a domesticated to a wild animal.
> 
> Now, Bradford, is another story. I mean, yes, I expect you all to think because he's now a humanoid-animal, he'll automatically smell the wolf inside of Leo… That's not entirely true: First off, he's born a human and still retains his humanity after being mutated, even as Dogpound. He never accepted his fate as an Akita Inu mutant and because he refuses to accept his fate or even try to fully adapt to his bulky form, he most likely never reached his full potential as Xever possibly did as Fishface (he didn't really talked about becoming human again, after the episode "Mikey Gets Shellacne"). Dogs, specifically canines, fully relies on their senses and because he still wants to keep living as a human, Bradford doesn't rely on his senses unless he has to or wants to track something. So, Bradford desire to keep his humanity became his downfall and since he doesn't want to embrace his animalistic DNA, he can't detect Leo's wolf DNA and can only follow specific scent trails. There are times his animalistic DNA will get him to bark, growl, snarl to those who threaten to challenge or oppose him, but will ignore any order his instincts will warn him and fight it to be in full control.
> 
> It doesn't have to make sense, really, since there are some parts of the show that never explain certain moments that didn't make any sense, either.
> 
> R&R


	13. A Secret Friend

**May Twenty-Seventh, 2012...  
** The night's cool air brought out a feeling of calmness amongst the city, which many civilians relished in the coolness from having to deal with the early heat. Unfortunately, not many are enjoying the coolness the night brings. One in particular, a blue-masked turtle teenager, pacing in anger and damaging whatever items he can break with his punches and kicks, growling and snarling like a caged lion.

Why is he in such a pissed off mood? Simple: He and Raphael got into another fight with each other. However, unlike their previous fights they had in the past, this fight was involved with Leonardo's leadership on leading the team.

* * *

 **Flashback; Earlier…  
** The four brothers chased down the humanoid-weed mutant, Snakeweed. Lately, the news were making reports of Snakeweed randomly snatching people off the streets and alleyway in the middle of the night. So far, the total of missing people was nine. However, as the brothers chased him, the mutant was able to snag a pizza delivery teenager off his moped.

"No! Not the pizza guy! Take Donnie!" Michelangelo cried out, viewing the teenager as if he were his hero and was mistaken for some sacrifice.

"Snakeweed's getting away." Snakeweed made a hard turn to the right, then went into the alleyway between two condemned shops that went out of business seven years ago.

"Somebody help me!" The teenager's cry of distress echoed out, pushing Leo to give chase and run through the alleyway.

_ Wait! _

His Conscience made him stop in his tracks.

_ Don't just run in without a plan. Remember, his vines can pin you all with ease from what little spacing there is in the alley. _

He looked around for something that they can use to help them with Snakeweed's vines, when he saw the clotheslines.

 _'Perfect!'_ "We got him trapped." He informed his brothers, knowing that the alleyway leads to a dead-end from a third building in-between the two buildings.

"Good. Then let's go weed-whacking."

"Tree-trimming."

"Gardening!"

Neither of the three brothers noticed their older brother already went up the building, grabbing for the clotheslines and wrapping them over his arms. Looking down, he saw Snakeweed bending over to the ground, as if looking for something he dropped… Till he saw him pull a round object off the ground, realizing that it was a manhole cover to the sewers*.

Immediately, he grabbed for one of the clotheslines, tied one end to itself to form into a makeshift lasso, spun it over his head before tossing the circle towards the mutant, watching as it wrapped itself over Snakeweed's head and coil itself around his neck.

He gave a powerful tug of the clothesline, forcing the mutant to let out a screech of pain from the line pulling at his throat, around his heart where his weak spot is located.

"Release me, Turtle!" Snakeweed yelled, pulling the top-half of how body forward to overpower Leo's strength, only for the clothesline to tighten against his weakness and make him weaker.

"Not until you let the kid go, along with your other captives!" The vine holding the human-teenager in one of the pincers raised itself, as if Snakeweed was offering to let the turtle take him. Using his right-foot to keep a firm hold on the clothesline wrapped around the mutant's neck, the blue-masked turtled formed the other clothesline into another lasso and looped the hole around the boy. The pincer slowly released the boy, who was unconscious from fainting in fear of the mutant who caught him, one of the vines curled underneath the boy's body. "Now, talk: Where are the other humans you grabbed?"

Snakeweed was gasping out from the line tightening on his neck, his eyes blinking rapidly from the black-spots dancing in his big yellow-eyes.

Before he could even get a word to be spoken… Tragedy came in.

"Booyakasha!" Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo, all charged at the mutated-weed/insect human and, as a unit, rammed him against the wall. With his foot still on the clothesline, Leo nearly fell on his shell if his left-leg didn't help him catch his balance.

 _'No!'_  With nobody to tighten the line around the beating heart, Snakeweed can breathe normally and regained his strength. When all three jumped in the air to attack, the twelve foot mutant sent three of his vines from his back to smacking the turtles off to the side, pinning them to the walls as he used one of his pincers to grab for the teenager. Acting fast, Leo dropped down from the roof and, with a twist, sliced through the vine connected to the pincer and the human landed back down to the ground.

 _"Eeeeeee!"_  Snakeweed's screech echoed out from the alley, snarling down at the blue-masked turtle for interfering on taking his tenth victim. His screech attracted the cops' attention, seeing flashing lights of red and blue coming towards their direction. The twelve foot mutant wouldn't be too concern of a human knowing his existence, but having a police officer involved is a problem he didn't want knowing where he takes his captives to. "I'll get back at you for this, turtles!" He grumbled out, releasing the others and swiftly went down in the sewers.

"Hey, get back here!" Raphael yelled, grabbing his sais that he dropped when Snakeweed pinned him up against the wall and made a run for the sewer. Leo stepped up in front of him.

"We need to go, Raph. The cops are coming." The red-masked turtle was just about to argue, but the flashing lights grew closer and when hearing the sound of doors slamming, Raph followed his brothers back to the rooftop of the building, watching from the shadows as the cops took the teenager to their car.

"We did the city a great deed, tonight." Mikey stated, watching as the cops take the pizza deliverer to the hospital, puffing his chest out with his hands on his hips like a superhero.

"Not exactly, Mikey." Donatello, being the one to always be the bearer of bad news. "Snakeweed got away, and we have no idea what he's done with the other people he kidnapped."

"And it's all thanks to the worst leader!" Raphael added in, glaring at his older-twin who glared right back at the red-masked turtle.

"How exactly does that makes me the 'worst leader', when you three didn't follow my lead to the roof and charged ahead at a twelve foot mutated weed/insect? On that note: Why the hell did you guys decided to take a moment to come up with fight puns, when we're trying to rescue a kidnapped teen from a runaway abductor?"

"It wasn't our fault that  _you_  didn't tell us what the plan was, otherwise we wouldn't had dashed in like that. At least  _my_  plan was more effective than yours." His taller younger-twin got up in his face, his stance showing to not back down to admitting any faults he and the others did.

_**Beta-Brother Raphael, challenge Pup's title? Challenge position Alpha entrusted to Pup…? Ignorant pup, blinded by self's strength and intimidation, can't see own decision endangered self and Kins.** _

"You mean where you guys decided to endanger yourselves, that was also part of your plan?" Leo questioned, earning an angry tick from the red-masked turtle. "My plan was going as accorded, until you three decided to do your way and almost got us captured in the process. If you three had followed my lead and hadn't wasted time second-guessing my orders, we would've gotten Snakeweed."

"Well, don't give bad orders, and I won't second-guess 'em."

The side of Leo's lip pulled back, flashing off fangs that are eager to go for Raph's neck and punish him for ignoring his leadership, force him to submit and remember where his place is on the team… The very team who treats every situation as a game, to ignore certain orders that are meant to keep them safe in the shadows… To go behind his back to get back at some street gang, breaking his trust and never know of the responsibility he has to carry since he was four years old.

Tonight, he just about had it.

"You know what, Raph? If you think you can do better-"

_ What are you doing? _

_'What I should've done from the very beginning.'_ "Why don't you lead?" Donatello and Michelangelo were stunned to what their big brother just said. He, Hamato Leonardo, was giving the title of Leadership to Raphael? The hothead of the Hamato Clan?

"First good idea you've had all day." The comment was very smug, with more of an insult towards the blue-masked turtle, as the two twins glared at each other like chained dogs, ready to be pitted into a fight to the death.

"Dudes, we'll compromise. I'll lead." Raphael glared at the orange-masked turtle, daring him to repeat what he just said to let him take on a new challenger for the leadership role. Wisely, Mikey back away and returned to Don.

"Fine, Raph, the team's yours." And like that, he turned his shell to them and started walking away from them.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Raphael called out, not bothering to move from his spot. "I didn't say you can leave! You have to listen to me, now!" It took every ounce of strength in Leo's body to not dash back to his brothers and slam Raph to the ground, not unless he wants to break one of his codes of Bushido… The Law of the Pack. He stopped in his tracks, turning a side-glance at his brothers, letting out a low, threatening growl.

"I said 'the team is yours'." He rumbled out, his eyes almost appears to be flashing from the moon's own light beaming down. " _I_  am not part of  _your_  team. So, therefore,  _I_  don't follow  _your_  orders. After all, you don't want me on  _your_  team and I can clearly see how I'm not  ** _needed_**."

He sent a glance to his younger brothers, silently wishing them luck under Raph's guidance, before he ran for the ledge of the roof, jumping into the darkness to continue forward.  
 **End of Flashback…**

* * *

And so, that's how he ended up where he is, on the rooftop next to a Boboco Cola billboard in the Eastern part of New York. While out on his own, he cut off five satellite TV with Kamiizumi and kicked seven empire turbine ventilators.

It's pretty clear how angry he is, that not even taking deep breaths and slowing his heart rate was helping with his anger.

_You need to calm down, then once your head is clear, go back to the Lair and rejoin the others to find Snake._

_'And deal with more of Raph's verbal abuse, and being blamed for something he, now as leader, is responsible for?! Forget it!'_ He leaned over the ledge of the roof, staring at the view of New York.  _'He and the others can find Snakeweed their way, and I'll find him on **my**  own terms.'_

As soon as he finished that thought, it hit him like Bradford rammed him against that chemical truck a little over a week ago. He just realized what has happened: He left the team, and none of them went after him... He's by himself, completely alone... He's-

_*Thump*_

He hears footsteps behind him... And they weren't his brothers. Turning, he sees four Foot ninjas before him, each with a blade in their hands.

Leo let a low growl escape from his throat, a wolfish smile crossed his face.

"You just made my night," he growled out.

As a unit, the four ninjas charged at the turtle. The blue-masked turtle saw that coming and, with none of his brothers around, he allowed himself to not hold back. With such grace and swiftness, he let Musashi leave cuts on the humans' chest, all barely having any time to react before they dropped to the ground and struggled to remain conscious to stop the bleeding.

Leonardo was never one to feel any joy when bringing down those who are a threat to him and his clan... That doesn't mean he won't let any of his enemies to walk away, without gaining a mark to be a warning to stay away from him.

The blood on Musashi glided from the tip down to the hilt, dripping onto the ground before the turtle's feet. The humans struggled to their feet, making a slow retreat for the shadows, neither of the four ninjas looked back at the turtle and some of them appears to be trembling.

Leonardo snorted at their retreating forms.

"That makes me feel a whole lot better."

His nose told him that a human is remaining where they are during the fight, a fifth Foot ninja was his best bet and when he looked up, he indeed saw a human-figure standing on top of the Boboco Cola billboard.

The figure dropped down where they stood, landing five feet from Leo.

"Not bad." The human commented, revealing to being a Kunoichi, a  _female_  human.

She wore all black, a metal breastplate that covers the upper-half of her body from her shoulders to her stomach. She also had metal-plates covering the midsection of her Humerus, the arms of her Radius and Ulna to the palm of her hands, the midsection of her Femur and her legs from her Tibia to her Fibula. There was also a metal-piece covering the bottom-half of her mouth, which the turtle wasn't sure if she was using it to hide her identity or to prevent herself from inhaling certain chemicals. Her hair is helmet-shaped, with most of it on the top being midnight-black and the bottom-half of the back of her head being blonde, that his nose picked up the scent of dye.

And then, there was her eyes: They were chocolate-like brown, with a mixture that's similar to Amber… There was something about her eyes that puzzles the turtle.

 _'Her eyes… They seem… Familiar?'_ He didn't say anything back to the human, only glaring at her and slightly tightening his grip onto Musashi, sensing she'll make a strike on him like the Foot ninjas has done.

"You might actually be a challenge." With such confidence, she slowly made her way towards him. Her left-hand slowly reaching for the hilt of her Wakizashi, gaining Leo's attention. Even a few feet away from his new opponent, his eyes caught a faint glint from her blade. His eyes narrowed.

 _'Something's on the blade.'_  With a few small sniffs in the air, he caught the scent that was similar to dust and sand, along with something that burns his nose like Cilantro.

_Blinding Powder!_

His eyes widen from the information and that's when the Kunoichi pulled her sword out, swinging her blade at the air to have it travel towards him.

_**Blind Attack!** _

Immediately, Leo closed his eyes and turned his bandana sideways to prevent the powder from getting into his eyes, holding his breath in the process since inhaling it could also cause irritation to the throat and some breathing difficulties.

_***Step-Step* *Step-Step*** _

His hearing pinpointed her coming at him, straight on. So, he charged back at her, jumping in the air at the same time with her, ramming his left-knee with her own. Being a bit bigger than her and with the mutagen enhancing his own strength, he forced her backwards and she grimace in pain from his padded-knee slamming against her unprotected knee. He reached with his left-hand for her right-shoulder and slammed her to the ground, placing the same knee to her stomach and his right-leg to cross over both her own legs.

He didn't need to see how surprised she was at the moment, only focused on placing his blade against her neck to silently warn her not to move. He bared part of his fangs down towards her, snarling ferociously at her.

"I was wrong," she said. "You  _are_  going to be a challenge." The scraping of blade against the roof told the turtle her intention to stab him, which he forced himself to backflip off of her and landing perfectly on his feet, around the same time she flung herself back onto hers. She smirked, sounding very impressed and intrigued of the turtle before her. "My name's Karai." As if to show off, while her opponent still had his mask covering his eyes, she spun her Wakizashi with one hand until sliding the blade back into its scabbard that rest on the back of her waist. "See you around."

The wind informed Leonardo of her retreating into the shadows, leaving him alone on the roof… Just like that?

 _'She's just leaving me… With no intentions to shadow me and attack?'_ "What the hell just happened?" He questioned himself, knowing no one will answer him. He reached to turn his mask back in place, but his muscles tensed up.

_Wait! The Blinding Powder could still be lingering onto your mask, they'll get into your eyes._

His nose verified his Conscience's hunch to being correct; the burning scent mixed with the dust/sand-like substance still lingers on him, irritating his nose from the burning scent.

_'Better find some water to wash it off, but where?'_

**_Head for Park; no Human goes at night towards Park. Water for Pup to use at Park._ **

Leo didn't argue with that suggestion; it was only a few minutes away from where he's at and has a fountain that has clean water, which will be better suited for his eyes than just going to the sewers to find a sewer's Wastewater Treatment Plant. Besides, he needs to wash the blood off of Musashi and with the park's fountain always cleaned before nine in the morning, no humans will ever notice blood has spilled tonight.

 **Three Minutes Later, at the Park...  
** Guided by his sense of hearing, touch and smell, Leo found the park with minimal difficulties. His ears caught no sounds of humans anywhere in the park, only the usual critters residing in the trees and the few strays are the only beings in the park with him.

When he located the fountain, he removed his mask and washed his face before his bandana, removing what little traces of Blinding Powder was left on his person. He then washed the blood off of Musashi, using the bandages of his hands to help dry his weapon, one of his fangs, to prevent the possibility of rust and placed the longer-blade back into it's scabbard.

He let out a deep sigh, relishing from the feeling of the coolness of his mask resting against his already wet face, along with the wind stroking his skin. The park, itself, has a feeling of calmness work its atmosphere, calming the turtle and every animal within it's terrain.

_Are you going to go back to the Lair, yet? Or go look for Snake?_

And once again, his Conscience has to interrupt his own personal time by reminding him of his duties, or get on his hide from being separated from his brothers.

_'Give me a minute to collect myself.'_

_You can do so, **after**  you rejoin the others. Besides, that Kunoichi, Karai, could be lurking in the shadows to strike at any moment. You need to take refuge to properly recover from the Blinding Powder._

Leo growled at his Conscience, choosing to ignore it's words to lean over the fountain to lap at the water.

 _'We've already been over this: Raph is now the leader of the team, and doesn't need me getting in his way. Besides_ -A smile came on his face-  _Since I'm not their teammate and none of them came to get me... I'm free to do whatever I choose to do, whether to find Snake on my own or even to explore the city by my own terms.'_

_No! You're not going to abandon them! You **swore**!_

_'I know what I promised to do, and I'm not going to break it... I just want to take this opportunity to see how I fair in the city, on my own. Plus, there are certain parts of the city I need to mark on where I've been and how close the nearest manhole-covers are.'_

**_...Not bad idea; Pup and Kins will expand patrol for future conflict, and must know where they can seek shelter if need to retreat._ **

His Conscience didn't say anything for a good while, meaning it was silently agreeing with him and his Instinct but didn't want to admit it to being a good idea at all. As he continued quenching his thirst, he heard the soft sound of paws coming his ways.

_'Too light and soft for a canine, but heavier than a small creature… A cat?'_

_**"Momma, what is that?"**_ A small-voice caught his attention, that he lifted his head from the fountain and looked over to seeing a silver-tipped blue-grey cat, with three miniature versions of the cat beside her, eyeing him with curiosity and uncertain fear.

Leonardo immediately recognized, from their coat color and body sizes, especially their heart-shaped heads and large green-eyes, that they're Korat cats. He loved how their fur shimmer and look more rain-cloud grey, with sea foam into the mixture from the shimmer. He also found it interesting, as he looked into the kittens' eyes, how their amber/golden-green eyes will change to a more Peridot-green between two to four years. When he was younger, he sometimes dream of playing with a Korat cat who never judged him because he was different and would snuggle against his plastron when it wanted to sleep.

He smiled gently at the felines, slowly getting himself to lay down on the ground to appear less intimidating and smaller than he would at standing to his full sight. While the kittens looked eager to run over to sniff him, they stayed behind their mother, cautiously eyeing him to figure out if he's a threat to her little ones and what exactly he is. She slowly stalked over to the fifteen year-old, sniffing at his direction as her kittens stayed close by and, when she sniffed nose-to-nose with the turtle… She let out a trusting, loving purr sound, licking his beak and rubbing her face against his.

_**"He is a friend."** _

* * *

For over two hours, on his own, Leonardo scoured the parts of New York… The entire time, he enjoyed every moment of it. Since his interaction with the Korat cat and her kittens, he found himself truly at peace with the animals he would greet. Whether it's because he's more animal than human or found to having a special connection with them, he doesn't know the answer. But, is very much happy to be making friends who see past his appearance and doesn't see him as some abomination, like many view humans to being monstrous predators because they experience certain neglect by them or how they view the humans to easily harm them from their larger appearances… He agrees to that reason, considering his recent experiences with certain humans.

When the kittens asked how he became as he appears to them, he told them, along with the other animals in the park who also came to greet him, of how he and his brothers evolved from normal turtles to humanoid-turtles… Along with how he became a humanoid-wolf/turtle, and none of his pack mates ever knew his secret. He knew they'll spread his stories to others all over the city, maybe even to other states of North America. At least all the animals of New York will know he's friend through his stories, especially when hearing that he, himself, took on White Death five years ago and made the sewers safer since the Albino-Allidile left.

While he made certain markings upon some of the rooftops that he'll know where the nearest manhole-covers are, he would either sniff the air to find Snakeweed's scent or even asked some of the animals if they've seen the humanoid-insect/weed mutant. So far, many claimed to have seen the mutant come out from time to time but not know where he came from or where he'd vanish to. It was very troubling to the turtle and with the cities multiple smells making Snakeweed's scent harder to follow, it seemed like he wasn't going to find Snake's or the missing victims.

His Conscience, at that time, got on his hide that he should've went home and rejoin his brothers. That he should suck up his wounded pride with whatever Raphael will use to taunt or insult him with and go with them to find Snakeweed's Lair, stating that Don would've already figured out where he's hiding.

But then, luck would happen, a few stray dogs crossed his path to inform him they've seen Snakeweed coming out of the sewer and taking a female-human with him about two days ago. However, because their instincts had them take shelter from the twelve foot mutant and were chased by a dog catcher yesterday, they didn't know which manhole-cover Snakeweed went to. All they know, is that it was somewhere on 47th.

No matter how small the information was, just knowing which street Snakeweed was seen in before hiding was more than enough for the turtle to look for the manhole-cover near the area and find his scent.

He head for the East-West near 47th Street, which took him seven minutes to get there by all-fours, hiding within the shadows of an alleyway.

_You should still-_

_'Shut. Up.'_

He and his Conscience had argued many times in the past, just as much as he and Raph gets into fights with each other. At least when he and his twin fight, it ends right there and then when one or both walks away or when apologizes of the mistakes they made. With his Conscience, however, even when the issue is fixed, it'll still bring up his mistakes from the past and use it against him to guilt trip him.

_Father wouldn't have approved this, considering it's not your choice to make._

_'It doesn't matter if Sensei approves what I do or not, only that there's a leader guiding the others.'_

_And with Raph as leader, there's no telling what sorts of trouble they'll run into! This isn't like Follow the Leader, you know?_

_'Well, considering the few times I actually played that game with them, I **don't**  know the difference between them.'_

_ This isn't the time to being a smart ass, Leonardo! _

The blue-masked turtle let out a snarl of frustration, digging his fingers into the hard-surface of the building to his right, not noticing or even caring if he left a claw-mark of blood on the wall.

_'And when is the time to being one? Huh? **They**  have no idea what kind of pressure, the  **stress** , I'm going through, and all they do is complain.'_

_So what? You want something in return? To make you feel appreciated, or something? Because being leader isn't about being appreciated. It's about responsibility! It doesn't matter how heavy the burden is; what matters that **you**  carry it!_

_'…I never asked for it… I never asked for the burden… The burden **Sensei**  gave to me, not caring that I never wanted it in the first place.'_

_But he knew, that only **you**  can handle the burden._

He glared at the view before him, pushing the conversation for another time to focus where on 47th Snakeweed's Lair is located.

"If only they saw an address or described what was where in the area, besides only giving me 47th-"

"Do you always talk to yourself?" A voice cut him off, knowing instantly who's right behind him. He turned to face the Kunoichi from earlier, giving her calm smirk.

"Don't have any friends of mine to hear me, so I'm the only one who'll listen."

"I'll listen," she offered. "When you beg for your life." She pulled out her Wakizashi from it's sheath, waiting patiently for Leo to pull out one of his blades. He chose Kamiizumi, which is similar to the length of the Kunoichi's Wakizashi.

"Let's see how you'll make me 'beg for my life'."

"Let's see how you fight against somebody who's better than you." She talked back, being cocky and acting like the victor of the conversation.

"Oh, you talking about yourself? Funny, I didn't think somebody, who claims to be better than me, would send in their minions to soften their opponent to become less of a challenge." He backfired, warning a twitch at the eye and one side of her lip to lose part of the smile.

"I'm actually at a loss of words," she said. "I'm guessing your the smart ass of your team?"

_You're getting to her._

"Perhaps, by your own point of view, just as much as you think you're better than an enemy you got pinned by earlier, after blinding with Blinding Powder."

"…I'm going to enjoy this." Her tone of voice lowered, no longer cheerful and suddenly very serious, and her smile replaced with a frown… The urge to kill reflect off her eyes, just as the blue-masked turtle expected to see from someone threatening to kill him.

At the same time, both kneeled to one another, both their chosen weapon held in their right-hand. Even as enemy to each other, Honor dictates they respectfully bow to the other, whether it be a friendly spar or even a fight to the death, in showing the honor they had within their clan to guide them and showing whoever the victor will be will see the defeated opponent hold true to their honor.

Almost like a reflection from the mirror, both turtle and Kunoichi moved exactly as their opponent did. They glared at each other, held their swords out with both hands clenching firmly to their weapon, digging one of their foot into the ground… Then, Karai broke the cycle by springing forward towards the turtle. In response, Leonardo did the same, only leaping over the girl and crossing blades with her, forcing her to twist in the middle of the air and barely having time to land on her feet, as the turtle spun in the air before landing on his own.

She immediately charged, bringing down her blade onto Kamiizumi when Leo blocked the strike. He pushed the Wakizashi to the side, ducking when she swiped it back to aim for his neck, and held it back up when she twirled to bring her blade on his right-shoulder. The second time she brought it back down on his sword, the Wakizashi came down the other direction, as if making a cross over Leonardo's chest.

" _ **Jūji-Ken**_. Interesting." He held out his blade to his left-side with both hands, charged, glided the Wakizashi up to the side of his right and bringing it down, knowing she'll pull back to dodge. He prevented Kamiizumi from hitting the ground, twisted himself to swing to his right, missing when Karai dodged and, when charging down at her, swiped up to the side to at least lay a cut when she did a midair roll.

" _ **Kocho-giri**_. Predictable."

_Rrrrrriiiiiip!_

Both teen heard the tearing of fabric and, when looked down, saw a perfect side-cut on her right-leg near her ankle… The exact mark Leonardo made in the air that she  _assumed_  she dodged. A small trail of blood can easily be seen through the torn fabric, but she didn't have enough time to process what happened when the blue-masked turtle brought down Kamiizumi, forcing her to block his strikes until she twisted herself to get behind his shell to strike the back of his head. Leo twisted himself to block the attack. With their blades locked with each other, the teens circled each other until Leo pushed her back.

He swiped his blade to the left, then to the right, both attacks being blocked by the Wakizashi, and then Karai backflipped from the third swipe.

"You're good-…"

_Rrrrrriiiiiippppp!_

Another sound of fabric tearing was heard, seeing it next to her right-knee. Her smile formed into a frown.

"No wonder we haven't wiped you out, yet."

"Not like Shredder hasn't been trying." He stated, smirking at the sound of her silent frustration that her opponent got in two cuts on her, while she hasn't laid a single scratch on him.

"I know," she agreed. Even though she may act mature, she's still a teenager like himself and as such, prefers to speak in the conversation as if talking with one of her girlfriends about how lame and annoying their parents are. "That's all he ever talks about: 'Revenge, revenge. Vendetta, vendetta'."

"Is that so?" He asked, raising Kamiizumi to the right-side of his head. "While you may sound a bit bored and annoyed by the same topic, you seem to be just fine with it?"

"Oh, I'm totally fine with it." She answered, smirking while positioning Wakizashi to her right. "I'm just saying, he needs a hobby." She charged. "Hee-ya!" Leonardo flipped over the blade, gliding Kamiizumi over the Wakizashi and staying locked with the blade when he landed.

"And what kind of hobby you think he should do? Take up Water paint?  _-Karai pulled back to slam her blade against his.-_ Write Haiku?  _-When they separated, she charged at him, purposely glided her Wakizashi across his Kamiizumi, using it as a distraction to knee him.-_ Maybe some origami?"

He landed on his feet, he pushed up his blade when his opponent's hit next to the hilt of his sword, feeling her swipe his right-foot with her own to make him roll to his left. She attempted another kick to his face with her left, only to miss when the turtle backflipped away from her.

"Not bad, but I've seen better."

"With one blade, perhaps.  _-He reached for Musashi with his right-hand, feeling complete with both of his fangs ready to attack.-_ With two, that's another story."

The sixteen year-old appeared impressed, even some form of excitement, when the turtle pulled out his second sword from it's scabbard. Now, he's going to take the fight more seriously.

In unison, the two charged for their opponent.

* * *

 **Leonardo's POV  
** For the first time ever, I'm fighting with a Kunoichi. A Kunoichi from the Foot Clan... A Kunoichi, who confuses me. The way we fought each other, our fighting styles, even the way we get on the others' nerve... It feels so similar. Each time we swing our swords, it almost sound as if the wind around us is calling out to the slicing sound we would make… To me, it sounded as if the wind is crying for us.

And while she tried to cheap shot me earlier by using Blinding Powder, she also fight with some form of honor. Nothing like Bushido, but something more respectful than Bradford's way of honor... Much more than  _Shredder's_ own twisted way of honor.

_It doesn't matter if she has any honor. She's still a member of the Foot Clan, and is your enemy!_

_'I know... But still...'_

**_Pup sense some form of connection with She-Pup Karai?_ **

_'I don't know. I don't feel drawn to her like Don feels for April, but I feel-'_

_Look out!_

I pulled back before her Wakizashi could stab me in the eye, forcing my legs to jump for the ladder of the fire escape above my head.

"You know? It's almost like you're having fun, but fighting to not show it!" Karai said to me, launching herself in the air and crossing blades with Musashi. "Why not just admit that you're having just as much fun as I'm having?"

I growled, disgusted she would think I'd find this pointless fight anything but joyous.

"You may find this as fun, but I see this more as a struggle for survival." I answered, glaring at her behind the ladder. "Tell me something, earlier on the rooftop, you could've finished me off. Why didn't you?"

"Simple, because you're the first thing in this city that doesn't bore me." As she answered my question, Karai pulled out two shuriken, sharp enough to slice through wood, and tossed them in my way. I used Musashi to block the stars away from me, only to realize I left myself open for an attack when she used the ladder to swoop down and slam a powerful kick onto me. Luckily, Kamiizumi was in her path to block her attack. "Also, I don't think you're as good as you pretend to be." She charged, crossing blades with Kamiizumi and her Wakizashi… Then, forced my blade to glide backwards, got behind me and had her blade crossed over my throat. She has my head trapped, with Kamiizumi held against the right-side of my head and her Wakizashi near my neck to the left. "Don't tell me the goody-three-toes thing doesn't wear thin after a while."

I snarled up at her, anger boiling in my chest as I remain trapped in her grasp and between two blades. How dare she turn one of my swords, one of my own  _fangs_ , against me?!

"I never claimed myself to be good," I replied. "And whether I do or not, it's better than the alternative."

"Which is what? To have fun?  _-she tightened her grip, bringing her Wakizashi closer to my neck.-_  To cut loose? To live your own life?"

My heart pounded against my plastron, as I attempted to turn my face away from her. That last part she said… It's all that I ever wanted: To live my own life, the way  _I_  wanted to live it. Not the way of my master, and what he and my brothers expect me to do with the life I lived by… A life, where I can decide what I want to do and finally get a chance to feel any joy of living the way I am now.

_Don't believe a single word she say!_

My right-hand that held Musashi, tightened onto the hilt and, with concentration, gabbed that end of my blade against her side. At the same time, I forced my head to face her and, ignoring the feeling of a sharp metal cutting into my flesh, head butted her face with my own. Even after that, she still smiles.

"Guess I struck a nerve." She obviously in pain from my attacks, totally not prepared for the jab I inflicted near her right-hip and seemed taken back that I allowed her weapon to cut my neck, seeing a small trail of blood gliding from the wound.

"And I struck you more times than you were able to inflict any injury upon me." She frowned at my remark, then swiftly sprang on the upper-half of my body. It was all thanks to my reflexes that I was able to pull myself away from her blade and remove myself from her grasp, crouching a bit low in case she tries to jump on me again and I'll be ready to jump out of the way.

Instead of continuing her assault, she just smiled again and pointed her blade behind her.

"You see that high-rise?" I looked over to where she has her Wakizashi pointing towards, a tall building that was ten blocks away from where we are. It was the Byerly Building, owned by some millionaire who collects rare artifacts.

"Yeah?"

"Meet me there by midnight." She jumped backwards, kneeling over the railing of the fire escape and putting away her weapon. Is she just going to leaving me, again?

"Why?" I had to ask. Is this something she does for 'fun' with her enemies?

_ Must be a trap! She's trying to lure you there to catch you off guard! _

_'I don't think so. If she was, then why to that building exact, where there are more lighting than darkness?'_

"I wanna show you something." With cat-like reflexes, she pounced to the next floor of the fire escape, then backflipped to the next building across from us and was gone… Just like before.

That girl, she puzzles me. Twice, she picked a fight with me, and instead of finishing the battle  _she_  started, she up and runs away… She isn't like the other Foot ninjas my brothers and I fought, let alone anything like Xever and Bradford. At least for them, they kept fighting until we turn the fight in our favor and sent them packing, or force them to a corner that leads them to drastic measures.

Slowly, I placed Musashi and Kamiizumi back into their scabbards.

_You can't be thinking of going there, are you?_

_'She said she wanted to show me something. Whatever it is, could be the very reason why she ran from our previous battle and this fight.'_

_And you're not at all concern that she could've just said that, just so she'll plan ahead on how to take you down?!_

_'She didn't use her Blinding Powder this time and instead of waiting in the shadows, she's really gone.'_

_**She-Pup Karai possibly was testing, viewing what Pup can do in battle… Yet, not bring others with her.** _

That also got me by surprised. Either she thinks she doesn't need any help from other Foot Clans from how I took them down with ease, or doesn't want anybody to get in her way with her 'fun', I'll never know the answer to. But, if she came here on her own… Does that mean the Foot, the  _Shredder_ , has no idea where she is? Let alone, what she's been doing?

A scared thought came to mind: How long has she been out?

_ Whether she informs them of her whereabouts or not, Shredder will still send out his ninjas  _

_'And judging by the way she talks about him, it almost sounds as if she's close to Saki. I don't know how close, but it's pretty clear she's well trained enough to be somewhere around the ranking as Bradford's, despite her teenage rebellion.'_

Immediately, I pushed myself to the rooftop and blended in with the shadows. Alone or not, I need to be certain that nobody tries to see me. While hiding, I used one of my bandages of my finger to help me clot the blood on my neck, binding my throat to temporarily stop the bleeding until I return home to properly take care of the cut.

_Still think you should meet her at the Byerly Building?_

_'I may have to. She probably hasn't informed Shredder about our encounter… At least, not yet. But, if I don't show up, what will be the chances that she'll go off and run in with my brothers?'_

**_By Meeting with She-Pup Karai, Pup ensure any possible hostage to being avoided._ **

_'Exactly.'_

_But, what about Snake? Yours brothers can't take him on, on their own!_

_'If anything were to go south, Don will be my best guess to think of an escape. They also have their smoke-bombs with them, just in case for an emergency.'_

I check on my T-Phone, finding no messages or any miss calls from my brothers or April. I also looked at the time, finding that I have about forty minutes before midnight to meet up with Karai. I can burn the time with more marking the area, but my mind is still concern of running in with more Foot ninjas. Besides, another disturbing thought came to mind.

_'She appears to be around April's age, which means she must still be in school… Does she go to the same school as April?'_

I couldn't smell any scent that Karai carries to confirm any related smells April carries when coming to the Lair from school, but that wasn't enough to settle my fear for the redheaded girl.

_ …Alright… Head for April's. It's best to warn her of the possibility that a student from her school is from the Foot Clan. _

At least my Conscience isn't going to argue with me about my concern for April's safety. Instantly, I dropped to my hands and feet. I jumped off the rooftop, head for the manhole-cover of a small park that was to the left-side of the alleyway, climbed down into the sewers and took off for the shortcut to where April's Aunt's house is located at the western part of the city.

* * *

**Thirteen Minutes Later, at April's Aunt's House…  
** _*Knock knock knock*_

"April… April?" Leonardo called out in a whispering tone, eyes looking out for any humans who may see him outside at some random house, thinking he's breaking in to harm whoever is inside. The sound of light footsteps can be heard, heading for the window where the turtle stood beside. Just as he expected from the footsteps, April came into view, wearing her long-sleeve button yellow-shirt and white-pants with flower decoration.

She was very surprised to see him outside of her bedroom.

"Leo?" He nodded his head to her, silently answering her question. Immediately, she opened her window. "Is everything all right?" She also looked around the area, seeing no humans out or any signs of people with their windows opening. Still, seeing the bandage wrapped around his neck, a red-mark showing to be blood, gotten her very concern, besides that the blue-masked is alone and there was no sign of his brothers anywhere. "Get in."

She grabbed for his hand, gently urging him to come into her bedroom and shut the window when he silently entered her home. While this was her aunt's home, it seems clear that her aunt had a bedroom for April to have when she stays over. She had a dresser, a bed, her own TV and even a desk where her computer sat beside the door. April lead him to sit in the chair of her desk, kneeling beside her bed to pull out her own first aid kit and setting it on her mattress. She slowly reached for the bandage, giving Leo the opportunity to pull away or even stop her, before she undid the wrapping.

She gasped at the size of the cut, eyeing as the blood continued to escape with the bandage no longer clotting the wound.

"What happened?" She asked, grabbing for the disinfectant and new bandages from the kit, applying the spray to his cut and wrapping his neck with the bandage. "And where are the guys?" As she finished treating the cut and set the medical pack down on the ground, Leonardo answered her.

"We need to talk," he started. "I met this girl." April gasped from his words, thinking he found himself an actual girlfriend and wanted to ask her for any advice about girls. Before she could say anything, he held up a hand. "It's not what you think." His gaze showed concern for the girl, with a hint of anger and confusion, meaning that what he has to tell her is very serious. "She's a Kunoichi… From the Foot Clan."

She blinked at him, before realizing where the source of the cut on his neck come from.

"And the others?"

"They went to find Snake, that twelve foot humanoid-weed/insect mutant we fought when we went to save you and your father from the Kraang." She nodded her head, remembering that horrifying creature the guys fought. "Listen, April, do you know anybody that goes by Karai?" April thought long and hard, but couldn't find anybody who goes by that name.

"No."

"I see…" He sighed out.  _'Which means, there's a chance Karai could either be attending another school or could even be homeschooled at the Foot HQ.'_

_Still, it's best to make sure she knows who Karai is._

"Do you have pencil and paper?" He asked, turning his chair to face the desk while the sixteen year-old reached for her backpack and gave him the two items he asked for. Leonardo instantly went to work, drawing out the helmet-like hair before adding in the girl's face. In barely two minutes, he finished the drawing and presented it to April. "This is what Karai will look like."

The redheaded girl eyed at the drawing, taken back at not only who this girl who dare to attack one of her friends looks like, but how well detailed Leo put in to the drawing.

"I never knew you can draw this good," she complimented.

 _'Not the first reaction I expect her to give me, but alright.'_ "April, I need you to pay attention for a moment. If you ever see her, day or night, do not engage combat. She's been trained by the Shredder, no doubt, and it's important that you don't try to take her on by yourself. Even with your training progress growing, don't fight her unless she attacks you first. Okay?"

April stared at the drawing a little more, then glanced at Leo, and nodded her head.

"So, did something happen that she's involved with? Besides the obvious." She pointed a finger to her neck, silently referring to the turtle's wound.

"I'm meeting her later at the Byerly Building," he answered. "I know she's got something planned."

"Yeah, like pushing you off of the Byerly Building. It's obviously a trap, Leo." She set the drawing on her desk, worry held within her Sky-Blue eyes when learning that Leo was going to meet this girl at the Byerly Building.

"Honestly, April, I don't think so.  _-He got off from the chair, heading for the window and opening it up to let himself out.-_ There's something about her that-… I don't know what, but something tells me that she isn't like Shredder or his followers. I swear, I saw there's some good in her. She had every chance to finish me off, but she didn't.  _-_ _He turned back to April, who didn't look at all happy or very supporting to his decision.-_ I need to do this April. And no matter what happens, it'll be all right."

He launched himself from her window sill, grabbing for the ledge of the roof and took off before the girl could even call out his name.

She stood in front of the open window, looking to where Leo was last seen, worry held in her eyes and the uncomfortable of fear clenching her heart.

"I hope you're right." As she pulled her window to close, she thought long and hard on what she should do, until she went to her nightstand and reached for her T-Phone.

* * *

 **Meanwhile, at the Lair...**  
"Sensei, we need help!" Raphael called for their father, grabbing ahold of Michelangelo's feet while Donatello has the orange-masked turtle's shoulders. Both were running, carrying an unconscious Mikey into the Lair.

Hearing the distress call of his second eldest, Splinter came out from the dojo. On his shoulder, a nearly five weeks old Karasu took residence until Leonardo returns to take her out for some flying lessons.

"Set him down," he told the two turtles. Raph and Donnie sat the youngest-turtle on one of the couches, stepping back for their father to check over Mikey. Karasu hopped off of his shoulder, landing on the turtle's plastron and laid out on the youngest turtle. Splinter noticed they were short a member of their team. "Where is Leonardo?"

"He didn't come back? I thought he went home after our-" Raphael, still shook up from what just happened with their fight with Snakeweed, realized his greatest mistake he made tonight, besides having his youngest brother injure himself and remaining unconscious. "Sensei, this is a disaster, and it's all my fault. I don't know what happened. I just froze up. I mean, I have no problem risking my own life, but risking my brothers'?"

Splinter, fear held within his reddish-brown eyes from learning his eldest son is somewhere in the city,  _alone_ , immediately learned what has taken place amongst his sons.

"Now you see the price of leadership, Raphael: Responsibility. A task I knew you are not ready for."

"Yeah, I hate it." Saying that he hated it was more of an understatement. He  _loathed_  it; the weight on his shoulder, the responsibility… The  _burden_  of the job being leader truly brings, it was suffocating. He's truly amazed on how Leo seems to be able to carry the weight so easily, when Raph could barely stand from it pulling him down to his knees.

"So you understand Leonardo's burden?" Splinter asked his second eldest, who didn't need to be asked in the first place from the remorse look on his face.

"We need him back…  _I_  need him back." The humanoid-rat got to his feet, placing a hand on the red-masked turtle's right-shoulder, bringing the fifteen year-old to look into his father's eyes.

"You must find him, my son. Bring him home."

"But, Sensei, I don't even know where he is." And because Leo hasn't contacted them since their argument hours ago, along with the habit on setting his T-Phone to Stealth Mode in case somebody finds his phone to locate the other turtles or the Lair, since their incident with Dogpound and Baxter Stockman using April's stolen phone to see where they're hiding from Shredder, Donatello can't track down the blue-masked turtle's T-Phone.

"He's going to the Byerly Building." Said purple-masked turtle answered his brother's problem, earning a look from both brother and father on how and why he would suggest that specific building. "April texted me." He explained, holding up his T-Phone, showing them a text message from the sixteen year-old girl. Suddenly, realizing what he just said, he stared right back at the screen, hoping he didn't make a mistake. "April texted  _me_?!  _-_ _He got up to his feet, a huge smile on his face.-_  This is the best day!"

"Uuuuugh…" He was brought back to what happened to the youngest turtle from the turtle's groan of pain, earning disapproval glares from Raph and Splinter. Karasu, also not happy with Don's response, would've flew to the her genius turtle-brother and slap him upside the head with her wing, if she wasn't so focused on watching over her Older-Brother Michelangelo to distract her from her distress of her big brother out on his own in the city.

"Well, I mean, it's has its ups and downs."

Raphael rolled his eyes.

"Nice save, Donnie." He stated in a sarcastic tone, before turning to his father. "I'll find him, Sensei, and bring him back. No matter what.  _-He turned to Donatello-_ Don, stay with Sensei and look after Mikey." The genius turtle didn't argue with his hotheaded brother, as he and Splinter watch him take off in the tunnels to reach the Byerly Building sooner than going from the rooftops.  _'You better be there, Leo… I won't let you try and run from our family, again.'_

* * *

 **Midnight, on a Building Next to the Byerly Building…  
** At the top of the building, Karai slowly and calmly paced on the ledge, awaiting for the blue-masked turtle to show. While she may appear calm, she was really angry and annoyed… But, also scared. Somehow, Shredder found out she has encounter with Leonardo and she wasn't even certain if somebody from the Foot Clan was watching her from afar distance, considering she didn't sense anybody nearby while she and the turtle fought.

He didn't bought her lie that he got away, even using his first encounter with them to make a point didn't soften his lecture when he brought out the claws. Now, he has informed her that she's to finish him off… Which, honestly, she didn't want to do. Well, at least not right away. She wasn't lying to the turtle when she stated he was the first thing in the city that didn't bore her and the way he fought, she really enjoyed having an actual challenge than training with some wannabe ninjas who trained under the tutelage of Shredder and his prized student, Bradford.

Unfortunately, whenever Shredder, her  _father_ , gives her an order, she has to follow through with it, no matter how much she doesn't approve his decision or even wants to do the opposite.

 _'Times like these, makes me wish he wasn't my father.'_ As she continues pacing, the moment she turned her back, Leonardo appeared before her, silent and calm. "I was beginning to think you were a no-show, but you don't disappoint."

"You told me that you wanted to show me something," he reminded. "Whatever it is, it must've been important for you to stop our fight.  _-He slowly walk towards her.-_  Now, what is this about?"

She tossed him a pair of binoculars.

"That." She pointed to one of the windows of the Byerly Building. While many of the windows are dark, one of the windows showed a light dimming that his sharp eyes caught. Looking through the binoculars, his eyes widen in astonishment: There, sitting on a sword display stand, in a room with traditional Japanese art, was a long-sword in a black-scabbard… A sword Leo recognized from the rayskin handle marking from the blade.

"That's the sword of Miyamoto Musashi." He never thought, in his entire life, to be seeing a blade that once belonged to one of the greatest swordsmen in the world.

"The greatest swordsman in the history of Japan.  _-She kneels on the ledge to the turtle's right, eyeing at the window where the sword was being held.-_ It's ancient. It's priceless. And it's yours… If you help me."

The last thing she just said to him, it took him by surprise.

_'"Mine"? Why would she-…? Oh, no. She can't be serious.'_

_ Should've expected to see this coming, the moment she showed you the sword! She's wants you to steal it! _

"Karai, I can't do that." He firmly told her, earning a disapproval look on her face.

"Come on, that sword is just sitting there, collecting dust." She tried to persuade him. "You know you deserve that Katana. Certainly more than some lazy rich guy.  _-She moved to be beside him.-_ Stop being responsible, Leo. Stop waiting for people to give you the life you want. Go out and take it."

Leonardo glared at her pushing.

_'Does she honestly think that's going to work on me…? She may have a point of me taking what I want in my life, but stealing because of wanting of ownership for a blade I wouldn't even use? That's-…! What I expect of a human to do.'_

**_Pup?_ **

_'Something's been bothering me about that sword.'_

_What do you mean?_

_'It's here, in North America. And yet, it's supposed to be a prized possession for Japanese History… How did a human, an **American** Billionaire, gets his hands on it?'_

"Well, Leo?" Karai asked, becoming a little impatient and a bit awkward from the turtle being non-responsive to what she just said to him.

"…I can't." He answered, getting to his feet. "The moral rules I've been implanted to live by and Bushido prevents me from breaking into a person's territory, all to just steal something for some meaningless possession. No matter how much you may claim that I 'deserve it', I could never dishonor myself, let alone to the Great Miyamoto Musashi, by taking Mikinosuke for myself."

She glared at him for refusing to go along with her plan, but then lost that anger to confusion on what he just said.

"'Mikinosuke'?"

"That was the name of his first son he took in as his own," he explained. "Sadly, when Lord Taiyu died, Mikinosuke committed Seppuku… In a farewell feast, before he died, Musashi named his katana after his first son*… Besides, I could never replace my own Musashi, no matter how valuable that sword has been in history."

Karai, was really at a lost for words; under Shredder's teachings, you take what you want that you see as yours to claim and you take what you need if it'll save your life. However, this turtle wants to respect the Late Miyamoto Musashi by not taking the sword for himself. While that may be very predictable to what some goody two shoes would do, the sixteen year-old felt some form of respect to the turtle's reasoning… After all,  _she_  has to follow rules of honor, herself.

"…Although," he continued. "Something tells me that by stealing the katana, we'd be righting a wrong."

That caught her a bit off guard.

 _'First he said he can't steal it, and now he's suggesting that we do?! Can't he make his mind up?'_ "What do you mean?"

"I remember reading on an article, that a few years ago, Japan had an auction on weapons from the Feudal Era. Did that happen?"

The Kunoichi thought about it for a moment, recalling moments from her past in Japan on what occurred a few years ago. She eventually remembered Saki taking her to some of those auctions and educating her of their history. While they didn't end up buying any of the weapons, it at least gotten the girl interested on learning to use those kinds of weapons… At least, until her father had her covered in black and blue for nearly two months when trained to use each type of weapons that were displayed for auction.

"Yeah, it did." She answered. "Many of the buyers donated the weapons to the National Museum of Japanese History, while others claim those weapons as their lost family heirloom. But I don't see what this got to do with-"

"One of those weapons that were put for auction, was Mikinosuke… Said to be bought by Suzuki Katei, who was going to donate it to the National Museum of Japanese History."

Her chocolate/Amber-eyes widened by his claim. She grabbed for the binocular and zoomed in on the sword, anger boiling as it continues to sit there, collecting the dust that covers the great katana of Miyamoto Musashi.

"And yet, here it is, in America, owned by some lazy rich man." She growled out. Handing the binoculars back to Leonardo, she turned her back and walked off of the ledge, grabbing for her cellphone. Pressing a few buttons, she held the small device to her ear. "Shini, it's Karai."

Leonardo merely stared at her, watching as she has a conversation with this 'Shini' person.

_'What sort of business does she have with this "Shini", that would have her involved with Musashi's sword?'_

"Yes, Shini, I miss you too, but I need you to do something for me... At the National Museum of Japanese History, Miyamoto Musashi's Katana... I have a reliable source here, along with evidential proof, that the sword in the museum is a fake... Well, my source and I are looking at the sword right now, in some rich man's building, collecting dust as some prized display... Yes… Anthony Byerly... That'll do just fine... Thanks, Shini... Love you, too, Sis. Call you later."

Snapping her phone close, she returned to the turtle.

"I have a friend in Japan who's going to look at the sword at the museum, and verify it being real or not. Though, she thinks it'll end up being a fake as well.  _-She kneeled back on the ledge.-_ While she does that, how about we do some breaking and entering and get that sword?"

While he, too, wants to recover the sword so they can send it to it's rightful place, Leonardo has to follow Bushido.

"Unfortunately, Karai, until your friend informs us about the sword being stolen or replaced with a replica, I still can't steal Mikinosuke."

The sixteen year-old let out a sigh of annoyance.

"You're not going to let up, are you?" She asked, not believing he won't let loose and have fun, especially since they'll be righting a wrong.

"I need to be a hundred percent certain, that the sword in there is the real deal, before making such rash decisions." He answered, gazing down at the window where Musashi's Katana sat, unguarded and unprotected in case someone tries to steal if. "Besides, with enough evidence and verifying proof, we can show how far greed can lead a human to commit."

"...In other words, you want to have Anthony Byerly, publicly humiliated and exposed as the crook he is? _-A smile of approval spread on her face.-_  Now  _that_ , is something I can agree on doing."

Leo smirked at her own conclusion of his meaning... Though, he wasn't going to deny on how satisfying that will feel to witness that possibility to happen, should it go according to plan.

_Great, now you're going to act like her! You'll end up dishonoring the Hamato Clan, and yourself!_

**_Not true. Pup won't commit action, only suggesting lesser of two evil on Pup's end. She-Pup Karai, however, will go along with idea... Yet, no matter false, wrong it appears, both doing good by returning fang to rightful land of birth._ **

"I gotta admit, I was worried that you were gonna let me down. But, once again, you proved me wrong." She smiled at the blue-masked turtle. "You sure know how to make a game a bit more interesting, including on finding ways to restoring honor and plotting a way to put a crook to justice."

He smiled back at the older-teen before him, actually glad to make her see from his view that she didn't need to commit a sin to have fun. Though, he knew that she'll still act to her old ways as a criminal... Which he sense will be happening very soon.

"While I do appreciate your compliment, I'd be more happier if you weren't pulling out your Wakizashi to use on me." Her eyes flashed with mixed feelings: Stunned that he saw where she was going to do, annoyed that she got caught... And great sorrow, that she has to do.

Immediately, she pulled her weapon out and charged, swinging at the air when the turtle dodged with a side flip.

"It's nothing personal, Leo." She said, smiling as she and the blue-masked turtle slowly circled each other. "It really was fun, hanging out and such. Unfortunately, I got my orders to dispose of you."

Leonardo sighed heavily, pulling Musashi and Kamiizumi from their scabbards.

"Figure that was going to happen... And hey, the feeling's mutual." They both kneeled to each other, just like they did in their last battle, got to their feet and then, at the same time, charged towards each other.

They glided blades, passing each other, before shifting back to stare at their opponents. Before either could make the next move, a pair of footsteps caught their attention.

"Leo!" It was Raphael, who finally found the closest building next to the Byerly Building, came running in and saw his older-twin fighting with a female Kunoichi. "What's going on? Who's that?"

Leonardo's left-eye twitched, a sign of annoyance that his brother just intervened with his fight against this girl that he felt some form of kinship with honor. He shifted his body to make it easier to face the two, as he quickly introduced the two with the other.

"Raph, Karai. Karai, Raph. Now that we've got that out of the way, we can continue where we left off." Raphael, while relived to have found his brother, was pissed from how Leo tried to wave him off and go back into a fight that the red-masked turtle wasn't a part of.

"Well, excuse me for interrupting your playtime with the Foot. But, in case you don't know, we're out there risking our necks with our fight against Snakeweed!" Leonardo glared at his taller brother.

 _'And you came all the way here, to blame me…? Something must've happened.'_ "If that's the case, where are Don and Mikey?" The red-masked turtle's Emerald-green eyes had a slight shift of its anger that appears to be guilt and self-loathing.

_ Looks like his time as leader didn't go so well. _

_**Beta-Brother Raphael now sees position, role as Zeta, serious task in Pack. Not a game, especially in times of blood and war.** _

To his right, Karai was a bit taken by the way Leonardo interacts with his brother. It was kinda interesting, but a bit unsettling. She wasn't sure how, but somehow, she can feel a heavier burden radiating off of the blue-masked turtle, as he and his larger-brother talked and glare at one another.

_'Now, I see why he doesn't try to loosen up. **-Her eyes glared over to Raphael.-** It's because of his 'brothers' for dragging him down and, no doubt, their 'Master', for making him the responsible one.'_

While Raph tries to find the right words on what he wants, what he  _needed_  to tell his brother, Leo took notice something coming off of his brother from behind.

"What is that?" He asked, walking over to his brother and turning his shell to face him. There, on the top-left of his shell, next to his shoulder, was a yellow, powder-like substance. He touched the powder with a single finger and sniffed at it, making him sneeze when it irritated his nose.

_ Pollen? _

_**Substance purposely leaves trail in air… Design to signal Beta-Brother's location.** _

Leonardo's eyes widen from the two suggestion.

"Raph, where is Snake?" He growled out, his sixth sense telling him that the humanoid-weed/insect is coming for them.

"We had him tied up at his Lair," the red-masked turtle answered. He turned his head to see what his brother's looking at on his shell, and finally took notice of the pollen and the trail the pollen was leaving in the air. "What the shell?"

"You just left him a trail to find you."

As if on cue, the sound of a hissing/click-like growl behind the second turtle, all turning and seeing a twelve foot mutated-weed pulling itself onto the rooftop and standing before them.

"I found you, turtles!" It was Snakeweed, and boy, does he look ready to strangle them in his vines and de-shell them with his own fang-like teeth. He brought down one of his vines towards the three teenagers, all of them dodging the attack by jumping over the vine when it went to grab one of them by their feet.

Raph and Leo dodged at the same direction.

"All is forgiven. You're the leader again. Welcome back." The red-masked turtle told his older-twin, rather quickly before the two pulled apart when Snakeweed brought down a foot to pin them to the ground.

Leo glared at his brother.

_'Not really much for a proper apology.'_

_Not really the time for that! Stay focus!_

The blue-masked turtle sliced one of the vines with Musashi, twisted himself to dodge one of the pincers before cutting another vine with Kamiizumi, as he and his brother circled the mutant to find the opportunity to strike. As he finished his somersault, he noticed Karai standing on the side line, not making any movement to enter the battle with them. He glared at the smiling teen, before he turned his attention back to Snake.

A vine wrapped itself around his right-wrist, its thorns cutting through his wrappings and piercing his skin. He leaned in and bite at the vine, resulting the vine to pull him to the side and slam him against the ground of the roof. He struggled to his feet, only for the same vine to coil itself around his shell and plastron, trapping his right-arm in the process and forced to let go of Musashi. His left hand, while able to avoid being caught in the vine, also had to let go of Kamiizumi to grab for the entrance of the building to prevent himself from being pulled back to the twelve foot mutant.

Raphael immediately got back into the fight, duck from a vine and launched himself to Snakeweed to free his brother, only to be whack down with another vine. He then wrapped his second vine around Raph's right-ankle and hauled him in the air, raising his pincers to suffocate the red-masked turtle, which the turtle caught the two sides and struggles to push the pincer away from him.

Again, Leo leaned in on the vine and bit down, hard. He ignored the taste of Snakeweed's abnormal blood making contact with his tongue, as he kept firm to his grip on the wall.

_This isn't working! He probably doesn't have that much connection ties of touch to the vines, judging from his lack of reactions whenever you and your brothers would cut them._

**_Pup won't last long. Must free self and Beta-Brother._ **

_'I can't reach for my swords and the shurikens take up too much time to aim, besides not being sharp enough to cause that much damaged to his enhanced skin.'_ He looked over to the Kunoichi, his eyes flashing her a pleading request for her to help.  _'Please, Karai.'_

All she did was smile at him... Then, with quick reflexes, tossed a tantō towards him. His eyes widened a bit, but didn't flinch or closed his eyes, even when small blade landed just an inch over his head.

 ** _"Sayōnara."_** She said to the blue-masked turtle, before jumping off the ledge of the rooftop, leaving the turtles with their fight with Snakeweed. Her response to his silent cry for her aid, truly caught him by surprise.

_Don't think on that right now! Hurry, help Raph!_

His left-hand let go of the wall to grab for the blade above him, allowing Snakeweed to pull the leader in blue towards him. He twisted himself in the air, slicing at the vine that bound him and brought up both his feet to deliver a powerful kick, imitating a kangaroo's attack. Thanks to the kick's distraction, Raph sliced at the vine that held his ankle and landed on his feet.

"What's the plan, Leo?" Leo looked around, figuring out the best source of action to take.

 _'Top priority: Avoid humans getting involved.'_ "Follow my lead, we must lead Snake away from the humans and their household."

"You're the boss."

Both twins ran from rooftop to rooftop, avoiding the whip lashing of Snakeweed's vines as they drew the mutant away from the houses and towards a more secluded area. As Leo and Raph scaled down a fire escape ladder, the leader in blue noticed a building that has a logo of a polar bear, laying on an F made of snow and balancing a snowflake on its left-paw.

 _'Chilly Chillkins Refrigeration Company?'_ He saw, just sitting outside of the building, nine storage tanks of liquid nitrogen.  _'…I got an idea.'_

_ While this wouldn't be the best time to be asking, but… Who leaves out expensive, liquid nitrogen storage tanks, in the middle of the night? Anybody could easily steal this to save up a lot of money, or even sell it for a larger price. _

_'It could've been just delivered, not enough storage spacing for the rest, or perhaps the workers are just being lazy on their jobs.'_

_**Focus, Pup!** _

"Raph, over here."

While Raphael isn't much for using his head, especially for science like his younger brother, but he has just enough smarts to know the cold isn't good for plants. So, when he saw where his brother is heading for, he followed Leo's plan to go for the storage tanks to use against Snakeweed. And speaking of Snake, he brought down one of his pincers to stop the two teens in their tracks before he dropped down to the street and slap the two towards the wall across the building. Raphael slammed his shell against the building, while Leo shifted his body to have his feet absorb the impact before dropping beside his brother.

"Now what?" Raph asked.

"We charge him." Leo's answer caught the red-masked turtle by surprise.

 _'He wants us to pull a… Me?'_ "Really?" The blue-masked turtle turned to his taller, younger-twin, offering him a confident smile of reassurance.

"Trust me," he replied. His gaze then went back to Snakeweed, who sent out one of his pincers to grab one of the turtles towards him. "Let's move."

Both ducked away from the pincers that slammed into the wall, then, after side-flipping to avoid the other pincer, Raphael joined his brother to charge for the humanoid-weed/insect. Leo, while making his way to the twelve foot mutant, avoided the left-pincer when it reached to grab his left-shoulder, then performed a triple mid-air barrel roll to dodge two of his vines when they slap down to pin him.

When he landed into a crouching position, he forced his legs to spring him up in the air and delivered a powerful spin kick to Snakeweed, sending the attack to his weak spot: His throat, where his heart is located.

Snakeweed let out a grinding screech, barely able to remain standing from the attack affecting his body. Leaving the mutant open, Leonardo ran around him to the liquid nitrogen storage tanks. At the same time, Raph went to make his mark on their enemy. Snakeweed tried catching the red-masked turtle with his vines, but the attack from earlier still left him a bit lethargic and his strikes were easily avoided. Raphael stabbed at one of the vines and, like Leo did before him, though with a little help from the vine, launched himself in the air and delivered a powerful kick of his own, landing for the head that he, with Donatello and Michelangelo from their earlier encounter, kept aiming for and failed.

The mutant slammed to the building, giving Leo a perfect opportunity to throw the tanks the creature.

 _'We need to stay clear from the tanks, or we'll run the risk of the liquid nitrogen to freezing us alongside with Snake.'_ He threw one tank at the mutant, only hitting his head but didn't rupture the tank. He grabbed for a second storage tank and charged for a closer target, only for Snakeweed to shove him back to the tanks, scattering them behind the turtle.

Raphael immediately went to aid his brother, attacking Snakeweed before he went to grab the blue-masked turtle. He got behind the mutant's head, wrapping both his hands tightly around his throat and forcing Snake to walk backwards. However, a vine wrapped itself around Raph's shell and pulled him off of Snakeweed, tossing him to the building. Taking safety precautions to not have no more distractions when focusing on one of his preys, Snake had a vine curl itself around Raph's throat and kept him pin to the ground.

Leonardo grabbed for a third storage tank and charged for their opponent, but a second vine smacked him back down to the ground, forcing him to release his hold on the tank. Excluding the vine that still has a hold on Raph, Snakeweed used his other five vines, including his two pincers to pull aside to put aside the five canisters that surrounded the blue-masked turtle, not knowing that one of the tanks is hiding behind the fifteen year-old's shell, who made a quick grab for it and hiding it behind his back when Snake pulled the turtle up at his face.

The moment he's face-to-face with Snakeweed, who screech at him, Leonardo bought up the storage tank and shoved it into the mutant's mouth, adding in a good kick to force it deeper. The turtle was released from the vine, as Snakeweed tried using one of his vines to remove the tank from his mouth, only to discover that his teeth had embedded themselves through the metal and slowly releasing the liquid nitrogen.

"Raph!" Leo landed on his hands and feet, glaring at the struggling and exposed humanoid-weed/insect. "Now!"

Following his leader's orders, Raphael brought out one of his sais and tossed his weapon for the blue tank. Upon contact, the tank burst and thick cloud of mist covered Snakeweed. When the mist subsided, instead of a green mutant, an ice sculpture of the twelve foot mutant appeared before the brothers, the broken storage tank remain in Snakeweed's mouth. The red-masked turtle sprang up, using the mutant's body to launch himself in the middle of the air and brought down his other sai.

"Booyakasha!" Like glass, Snakeweed's frozen body shattered into pieces from the impact of Raph's strength put into his weapon, his remains scattered all over the ground.

Seeing what's left of their enemy, made the red-masked turtle very much relieved to finally put an end to Snakeweed. While Leonardo, who came beside his brother to stare at the scattered ice of Snake, didn't feel the same.

_'I don't know why, but something tells me he'll be back.'_

_ He did came back, completely good as new, after being burnt to a crisp from your guys' first encounter with the Kraang. If Snake can can walk away from an explosion that burnt him alive, there's a possible chance he'll somehow come out of being turned into an ice sculpture… Shouldn't you gather his remains and melt them, or even toss him to the ocean? _

**_Negative. Possibility to becoming threat to other lands is high. Even if Pup melts remains, remains will revive from water or even travel through wind before body repairs self._ **

_'Meaning, the only option we have, is to leave Snake here and prepare ourselves for the next encounter we'll have with him.'_

"Nice work." Raphael praised his older-twin, breaking him from his conversation with his Instinct and Conscience. Leo smiled at his brother, truly thankful of the truth and honesty he heard within his taller-twin's voice.

"Thanks…"

"And, uh…  _-the red-masked turtle looked away for a moment, clearly embarrassed and nervous on getting what he needs, what he **wants** , to tell the blue-masked turtle- _…Sorry." The last word came out in a whisper, but Leo caught what he said.

 _'…He finally gets it… He **finally**  learned the truth of what becoming a leader means, and how it isn't like playing a game or even intimidating others to do what you want them to.' _"Apology accepted," he said. "Now, how about we get our weapons, and head on home? And on the way, perhaps you should tell me what occurred and how you figured out where I was at?"

* * *

 **Twelve-Fifteen, at the Lair…  
** The three older brothers gathered around their youngest brother on the couch, who remained unconscious since Snakeweed tossed him to the wall and hit his head. Thanks to the Mutagen, their bone structure has enhanced to take on more damage than a normal human can withstand.

Leonardo, kneeling beside Raphael on the ground, held up a slice of pizza before their knocked out brother… Who, after taking a few sniffs the second the food was presented, immediately came back to his senses and woken up.

"Mmm, pepperoni." Leo smiled at his brother, offering the food to the youngest turtle.

"Works every time." Raphael and Donatello, while feeling a bit dumbfounded on how easily their big brother got Michelangelo to wake up, were stunned that he actually woke up.

"Mikey!" Raph grabbed Mikey by the shoulders, pulling him to sit up and shaking him. "Don't scare me like that, buddy!" He then pulled his brother into a big hug, relief spread on his face. "I thought we lost you."

While still a bit lethargic and clearly confused, Mikey recovered from the shaking treatment from Raph.

"Dudes, I had the weirdest dream." He said, sounding very much tired as he started eating the slice of pizza. "I dreamt that the stuff in the sewers was made out of-"

"Eh, forget about it, Mikey. It was just a dream." Don made eye-contact with Leo, clearly giving him the signal to not ask or, figuring out what their youngest brother was just told, not to tell him.

Karasu, who sat comfortably on his left-shoulder, only stared, before letting out a few chirps to gain Leo's attention.

 _ **"How does he not know what comes down here, when he lived here all his life?"**_ Leo smiled at the curious bird, gently stroking her head.

"That's how Mikey is," he whispered. In another translation, she knew he'll tell her later. Raph, meanwhile, grabbed his right-arm, gently pulling him to his feet to talk in private. They went outside of the Lair, so Don can check on Mikey and not have the two ease drop on their conversation.

"So, what's with the girl who tried to kill you?"

Leo let back a groan to his brother's question.

 _'Figure, he would bring up Karai.'_ "I don't really know much about her," he answered. "What I do know, is that she's dangerous to engage in combat. No doubt, the Shredder, himself, must've trained her to become a skilled Kunoichi."

"That would explain why she's in the Foot Clan." He stated, eyeing at the tantō knife in Leo's hand. "So, what do we do about her?"

Leo let out a tiring sigh, facing with a difficult discussion he has to address to his twin-brother.

"While she's in the Foot Clan, I'm afraid there's going to be some problem.  _-He held up the_ _tantō, staring down at the blade.-_ While her intentions to work under Shredder is to hunt us down and kill Master Splinter, she still, inevitably, helped us with our fight against Snake."

"She threw a knife at you." Raph argued, not liking where this conversation is going.

"She, purposely, threw a tantō knife  _over_  my head, for me to use." Leo corrected. "Believe what you will Raph, but she could've left us  ** _before_**  Snake made the first strike, let alone not give me her weapon to free me from Snake's vines and distracting him long enough for you to cut yourself loose.  _-He laid a hand on his brother's left-shoulder, a serious look written on the blue-masked turtle's face.-_ Raphael, she saved our lives. I'm honor-Bound to accept that fact and… In the Spirit of Bushido, I must test her."

That caught Raph by surprised.

"'Test her'? For what?"

_ You need to tell him, even though he'll not approve of this. _

"Before you found us, we actually fought each other, twice. The first time, she retreated  _after_  I pinned her down. The second fight, she called to a halt to meet up at the Byerly Building. She didn't choose to linger in the shadows and strike me down when my guard is down, and didn't bring any Foot ninjas the second time we crossed paths. And while she may have sworn loyalty to the Shredder, she purposely defied his orders and chose, of her volition, to let us go and to even help us. Because of those reasons, I must give her the right to be judged… To see if she's worthy, on becoming our ally."

Emerald/green-eyes stared into Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes, a clear sign that Raph is uncertain on how he's going to react or what he's going to do… All the while, fighting to gain control of his anger, fighting to be release to release its wrath on his brother.

"…So, you're going to ignore the fact that she's from the Foot Clan, our father's sworn  _enemy_  to the Hamato Clan, all because she's ' _different_ ' from the other members of the Foot?"

His voice gave away his disbelief on what his smaller older-twin just said to him. The blue-masked turtle does feel guilty, even a bit surprised on how his brother could very much label him as a traitor, but he pushed those feelings aside to stand his ground.

"Don't forget, Raph, that Master Splinter's own father, Hamato Yūta, instead of ending the life of the sole survivor of the Foot Clan he and his clansmen killed, took in an infant he made into an orphan and raised him as his own, alongside Hamato Yoshi."

"And guess where that decision lead him, the Hamato Clan, Sensei and his family?"

That time, Leo let out a low growl at his brother.

_'You dare put the blame on Sensei's own father? The man who raised Hamato Yoshi into the kind, honorable man he still is, to this very day? And not as Oroku Saki made himself into?'_

Even Karasu glared at Raphael for his choice of words, already hearing the tale that Leo and his brothers heard from the blue-masked turtle, himself. Rather than hiss or even make an attempt to come at him, she remained quiet so the red-masked turtle can hear their big brother's anger. If Raphael was honest with himself, whenever he hears his own brother growl, a part of him makes him feel  _scared_ , as if he's faced with the boogieman who came out of hiding to terrorize him. And his eyes, they weren't the eyes of his best friend and twin-brother he grew up with, but of a feral, enraged beast, ready to spring up and snap his neck.

Sensing the fear radiating off of his brother, Leonardo forced himself to calm down and to put aside his growling. He gazed down, ashamed for scaring his brother, and still angry that he doesn't understand how much in a tight spot he's in.

"…I shouldn't have expect you to understand," he grunted. "You, Don and Mikey were never trained to uphold Bushido and its teachings, only the ways of Ninjutsu. While I, myself, was taught to become both, ninja, and samurai. And with that burden, I follow a strict code of honor that you three will never learn to live by."

With that being said, he turned away from Raphael and made his way to his bedroom, locking the door in case the red-masked turtle tries to barge into his own sanctuary to continue their discussion. As he made his way to lay on his bed, with the top-half of his body laying against the wall, Karasu, not wanting to feel the emotional pain coming off of the one who raised her since her parents death, came out from her spot and made herself comfortable on his plastron.

 _ **"It'll be okay, Leo."**_ She said, nuzzling her head against the turtle's.  **"You did what you were taught was right, by Papa's own examples and teachings _. You made the right choice, no matter how hard it'll try to cause a rift between you and our brothers._** _-She cuddled up underneath his chin, making small cooing sounds.- **I'm proud to have you as my Big Brother."**_

Tears formed in Leonardo's eyes, as he placed a hand on her small-body, returning his display of love by the low rumbling leaving his chest.

"Thank you, Kara… I really appreciate it." He whispered, slowly letting his body slide down until he's completely flat on his bed.  _'Times like this, makes me feel so bless to have her in my life.'_

_ Yeah… However, she won't be here, forever. _

The reminder of what's going to happen, to what he promised to Karasu's parents, made a stabbing feeling in his heart. The tears melted into his mask, leaving faint stains when he allowed them to fall. Karasu, obviously, can smell the tears, but didn't pull away or even said anything about it, only focusing on cuddling up with her big brother.

 _'…I know,'_ he thought.  _'…Is this what it's like, being a parent?'_

**_In some ways, it is, Pup… And yet, it's also part of life: Letting go, so life can continue the journey of those who're ready._ **

_'Yeah… If only Master Splinter can do the same.'_

Sleep was slowly creeping up the turtle, but he knew he has to do something, before he allowed himself to sleep.

* * *

 **At the Same Time, At April's Aunt's House** **…**  
Sixteen years old, April O'Neil, paced within her bedroom. The concern, the  _fear_  for the blue-masked turtle prevented her from trying to go back to sleep. After she sent Donnie a text on where Leo is, she's nervous on how Leo was going to react once he learns  _she_  told on him to his brothers. A part of her suggested that she should let him handle the situation on his own with the Foot Clan Kunoichi, but a larger part of her didn't want him to be on his own and tried telling herself that she made the right choice.

_Ping!_

Her T-Phone went off, alerting the girl that she has a text message, and her gut feeling is telling her that the message is from Leonardo, himself. Wanting to wait until morning, but know better than to get over with whatever Leo has to say to her, the redhead reached for her phone and brought up the text:

_**Kazoku e yōkoso,** _ _**Shimai** _ _**.** _

That single sentence, truly caught April by surprise. While she's still learning Japanese, she was able to recognized most of the word. The last one, however, she doesn't know what it means. Knowing that the turtles are awake, she went a quick group text to the Raph, Don and Mikey.

_**Hey, guys, what does "Shimai" mean?** _

A minute later, she received an answer from Donnie… And the answer she got, was a huge surprise for her.

_**It means "Sister" in Japanese. Why?** _

April read the text over and over, making sure that what Donatello just said to her was exactly how he wanted to send the message to her, before putting the whole sentence together… Bringing tears of joy to run down her face and holding the phone to her beating heart.

_**Welcome to the family, Sister.** _

**TBC**

 


	14. The Choices We Make

**May Thirtieth, 2012…  
** _A few days had passed since my first and last encounter with Karai… That girl… She's really an enigma. One moment she starts a fight to the death, then the next she acts as if it never happens and wants me to cause mischief with her. I've kept her tantō blade, which I hope to return and give her my thanks. I know the latter will be impossible, considering she'll probably be having some Foot ninjas to patrol with, if Shredder learned she let us go and doesn't trust her to scour the city on her own._

_A few days ago, the news came up and informed viewing audience of Anthony Byerly's arrest, for the theft of Miyamoto Musashi's blade,_ _Mikinosuke. Also, by forging a fake sword to pass as the actual blade, he not only stole from_ _Suzuki Katei or the National Museum of Japanese History, but also Japan, itself. I know he won't be in prison for long; he's a billionaire and will use money to get himself out within a day or two, and pay off certain people to make the news blow over. He'll even act like the innocent victim, claiming he bought some random sword while on his last trip to Japan, 'never knowing' that he ended up getting a legend sword that was put for auction. Thankfully, the sword is being sent back to Japan, where it'll be truly treasured and valued by the people of Japan and well cared for._

_I'm actually surprised that Karai didn't go back to the building and steal the blade, as she intended for us to do, but very much glad she didn't do so that would've let her friend's work go to waste. No doubt, this "Shini" gathered enough evidence to confirm my suspicious, delivered the proof to Karai and secretly sent them to Law Enforcement that lead to Byerly's arrest._

_In some way, this shows she follows the rules of honor… Well, some of its rules. Not in the way of Bushido, but enough that shows her more to understanding and upholding the_ _importance of honor. Unlike Shredder, Bradford, Xever and the Foot Clan. And for that, I know that I'm making the right decision by following Bushido, to give her a chance to see if she'll be a worthy ally… Though, a part of me tells me that she'll fail the test and when that happens, I'll be greatly sadden by the results and will have to view her as the enemy she's trained to be._

_Unlike April, Karai will be tested based on what she would do when faced with an enemy that involves us: Will she continue under Shredder's orders to kill us, fight alongside us, or run? Whatever choice she makes, I will not know the answer to but when she does, that will tell me how she must be viewed as._

_Speaking of April… She's been all smiles and more determined into her training, since I sent her that text… I meant what I said in that text, for she has finally passed the test and can now see her as both, an ally, and a true member of the Hamato Clan. When I left her aunt's apartment, she was faced with a difficult decision on what she should do: Not speak a word about this and let me handle the situation, or inform the guys of my location. And she chose the latter… Which, I'm very happy and relieved that she did._

_Without realizing it, none of us realizing it, she had Snake follow Raphael's trail to the surface and not head for Donatello or Michelangelo's, which would've lead him to finding our Lair if she hadn't told them where I was. Not only that, but Snake's interference was the perfect distraction to have Karai flee from the scene, meaning she'll probably avoid any form of punishment from the Shredder for not completing her task to kill me._ _Even if Raph and I would still end up arguing, April did what she did was right: Inform the team the whereabouts of their missing member, and giving them the location where they can help save that missing teammate._

_In a pack, what's most important is looking each other's back and telling others of the danger that member is in, no matter how much they fear of being labeled as a traitor to that person. April put my wellbeing before her own concern of our complicated relationship and, in doing so, saved us from Snake discovering our den… And Karai, for not completing her primary objective. And for that, she has my full trust and, despite still feeling something off about her, is now someone who I can acknowledge as my sister, just like Karasu._

_…Karasu… My Little Kara… She's getting so big and strong, which I'm happy to see her becoming a great flyer that I raised her and trained her to become… Sadly, she has to leave the nest and that day is just around the corner. And when that day arrives, I'll be all alone, with nobody to interact within the sewers._

_Many of the rats, including the colony I grew up alongside with for five years, left the sewers to find a new nest… Away from the city, since the incident with Victor Falco. When I went to check up on them, that was my last encounter with the many rats I came to know and love. They promised to return, but only when the city is safe and the Rat King was dealt with, once and for all. But until then, the city isn't safe with them remaining underground and neither are they safe remaining in the_ _city, should Victor try to take over the city, again._ _Only the rogue rats are all I see scouring the sewers, which saddens me from how quiet the sewers became since they left._

_And while I made many friends and allies with the animals above the surface, I'm unable to interact with them the way I greet them, when I have three brothers eyeing my every move, Raphael especially. I can tell he felt like an idiot and a fool for allowing me to walk away from the team, while he became leader. And every time we go up to patrol the city, I always feel his eyes watching my every movement and remain close by at all times. Though I wanted to snap at him to stop shadowing me, I let him continue this habit. Within short time, he'll calm down and, eventually, stop needing to keep watch as if I'm going to escape prison._

_However, tonight, we're gonna be on the look out for Kraang. Some of the pigeons informed me that, lately, Kraang has been roaming the alleyways, parks, pet stores, animal exhibits and certain areas providing plants… Capturing and taking plants and small animals to, most likely, one of their hideouts. According to the pigeons, they were last seen near Hicksville. Hopefully, they'll be there and when we see them, my blades will remind the Kraang why they should never encounter us._

* * *

**Ten Twenty-Seven, on the Surface World…  
"When fight is concluded, the ones called 'The turtles' are defeated by Kraang."** A silver Kraangdroid stated, blasting away to try and hit one of the turtles. Because their own sense of vision is restricted, it never saw Leonardo coming up from behind until the blue-masked turtle sliced off it's right-arm, followed by the left-arm and being rammed to the ground. The alien, unable to control its robot body, screeched in fear and made an attempt to run for freedom… Only for Leo step on some of its tentacles with his foot and, allowing the alien to stare up at who prevented it to flee, brought down Musashi for a quick death. Magenta-red blood gushed out from the Kraang, coating the blade that ended its life.

The blue-masked turtle let out a sigh of satisfaction, no feeling of remorse for the dead creature before him. The only thing he does regret, is not forcing the information out from the creature where they're keeping the animals before ending its life. He also hoped that the other Kraang saw what he did to their friend, so they'd take the hint to leave and he can enjoy a little hunt.

_Someone's watching._

Leo lifted his nose in the air, separating the stench of toxic-squid with the surrounding scent… Which, to his surprise, caught the faint scent of tradition Japanese cherry-blossom. Looking up to where he saw a certain Kunoichi he both wanted, and not wanted, to meet: Karai.

_Great, **her**. What's she doing here?_

_'My guess, patrolling the city for us.'_ His hearing can hear slight shifting sounds where Karai stood, which he figures to being Foot ninjas she brought with her. His eyes narrowed at her.  _'And of all the time she and her group finds us, it has to be when we're fighting Kraang.'_

_What are you going to do?_

Looking over, he watch his brothers bringing down their blue-Kraangdroid, only for a few other Kraang to come around the corner and firing their blasters at them. Leo did a mid-air barrel roll to avoid the five blasts and held up Musashi to block two more attacks.

 _'We can't fight both Kraang, and the Foot, at once. And whether the Foot had ever came across the aliens or not, there's no doubt they'll try to fight both us and Kraang at the same time… Time to disband.'_ "Guys, Foot ninjas, above us!" He called out to his brothers, purposely giving away Karai's location.

"Well, that's just great!" Raphael replied, stabbing his sais into his Kraangdroid's head and chest, flinging it to the side before making a charge for the other four Kraangdroid who join in the fight. Clearly, he harbors deep hatred towards the girl. Not only has she made an attempt to kill his brother, but also made his twin believe he owes her a debt by testing her to being their ally. Yeah, like that's ever going to happen. Them, Hamatos, allying themselves with a Foot ninja? When the world's coming to an end, perhaps.

"Take care of the Kraang!" Leonardo ordered, reflecting a third blaster to hit one of the Kraangdroid in the arm before putting both his swords in their scabbards. "I'll take care of the Foot!"

He expected Raphael to not approve his decision.

"What?! You can't be serious, Leo!"

"We don't have much of a choice right now, Raph!" Donatello back up for Leo, using the hidden blade of his Naginata to stab the Kraangdroid through the chest and tossing it to the side. "We can't deal with both Kraang, and the Foot, at the same time!"

"We'll regroup at the Lair," the blue-masked turtle suggested to his brothers. Not bothering to hear any more protest from the red-masked turtle, Leo scaled up the fire escape of the building and, after launching himself in the air to where Karai stood over, brought out his blades and brought them both down to the girl, who had her Wakizashi out to block the attack.

"Hey, Leo. You missed me?" She greeted, pushing the turtle back. "You must have, if you're so eager to have my blade pierce your neck, again."

The turtle slid backwards on his feet, smirking at her remark before turning his gaze to the Foot ninjas before her, their blades drawn out and ready to attack him.

"And you seem to, once again, need assistance from your little merry men to weaken your opponent before making the finishing blow." She didn't say anything to that comment, only snapped her fingers and the six Foot ninjas charged.

Leo didn't look concern in the least… And since he has already shed blood, tonight, he saw no harm to shed even more. Before even the one of the six ninjas' sword could even be brought down, the blue-masked turtle allowed himself to let loose: His first victim, the one to bring his blade down, had the wind knocked out from a jab to the hilt. The second and third victim, decided to attack from both sides, only for the turtle to jump in the air and, when he dived back down, delivered a fatal cut to both of them that, also, cut through their sword. The fourth ninja charged from behind the turtle, who heard the ninja coming and, timing it precisely, backflipped himself to the one behind the human and ram the ninja to the ground. Both the fifth and sixth ninja hesitated on making an attack on him, but are honor-bound to attack their master's enemy and tried to tag team the turtle, who easily blocked their weak strikes. Wanting to end the pity match, Leo eventually positioned himself between the two and, when they charged at him, launched himself in the air and the last two ninjas collided with each other.

Leonardo exhaled, staring at the six ninjas who are on the ground, the last two unconscious, while the first and fourth ninja helped the second and third with their bleeding injuries. Karai was taken back a bit on what she just witnessed.

 _'And I thought he was good, before.'_ This isn't the first time she witnessed a brutal fight that ended with blood; the training practices Shredder would have her observe, would at times end with his opponent bleeding out to near death when her father ends up becoming the victor.

"So, Karai, you wanna continue where we left off?" Leonardo asked, turning his blood-covered swords to her. She stared at the turtle, then to her fallen followers, to his brothers finishing off the Kraangdroid, and back to the blue-masked turtle.

"While I would like to drive my blade through your chest, I'm afraid we'll have to reschedule our playdate for another time." Karai answered, surprising the turtle a bit before regaining his composure. Whatever was on the girl's mind, Leo guessed that the sight of seeing Kraang must've made the older-teen wanting to fall back from her objective.

"Very well," he said. "But, before you go…" Without warning, he charged at the girl and, when he was face-to-face, swiftly and with skill, shoved the tantō blade into her grasp from within his own grip beside Kamiizumi's hilt. Realizing what he was doing, the Kunoichi played along and swiped the blade at the turtle, who backflipped away from the girl and, while in mid-air, tossed his smoke-bomb down on the rooftop. The roof was clouded in the thick purple-smoke, giving the turtle plenty of time to drop down into the alleyway and become one with the shadow, silently leaving the area until he could find a manhole-cover and head for the Lair.

_You didn't have to give back her_ _tantō._

_'I know, but what would be the chances of the guys going into my room and finding a weapon, with the Foot Symbol inscribed?'_

**_Very high for Omega-Brother Michelangelo, average high for Omega-Brother Donatello and Beta-Brother Raphael knew Pup has small-fang in possession._ **

_'If they confront me about it or, Heaven forbid, informs Sensei to have him be involved, they'll be questioning my judgment and decision making every time we run into her. Besides, she'll probably be needing her weapon should she ever loses her Wakizashi in battle and to me, returning it seems the proper way to thank her.'_

His trip through the sewers, as he expected, was quiet and empty. He would hear a distant call of a rat or two at the farther parts of the sewers, but even their cry weren't enough to make the blue-masked turtle to forget his sewer friends are gone, far away from New York City and someplace else, not knowing if he'll be seeing many of them of the possible danger they'll encounter. He also took the time to wipe the blood off of Musashi and Kamiizumi, using the wrappings of his hands before putting them back in their scabbards, planning on putting mineral oil from Don's lab on his blades to thoroughly ensure proper cleaning and strengthening his weapon.

By the time he reached the entrance of the Lair and walked through the turnstile, he was rammed to the ground by none other than Michelangelo, who had his arms pinned tightly to his side from the hug the orange-masked turtle is giving to his brother.

"Leo, you made it home!" He cried, smiling big at his big brother, who gave him a smirk.

"I'm happy to see you, too, Mikey." He stated, waiting for the youngest-turtle to release him so he could get back on his feet. "You all made it back? No casualties?"

"Nope, we made it back, no problem." Mikey answered, getting all hyped up on their fight with the Kraang. "They never saw what was coming, when Mikey here gave them a good old fashion ninja-whooping."

While this was going on, Leonardo looked over to where the dojo was, sensing somebody eyeing him the instant he came back, which he saw to being Raphael. The hotheaded turtle didn't say anything, only silently jerking his head to the dojo, wanting his twin to join him for a moment to spar. Having to figure out what his brother's true intention of sparring is about, Leo nodded back at the red-masked turtle.

 _'I'll oil my swords later,'_ he decided.  _'Besides, he has to hear what I need to tell him.'_

 **Moments Later, in the Dojo** **…**  
Both brothers rammed their knees to each other, followed by their arms to cross over one another. Raphael had both of his sais out, while Leo only brought Kamiizumi into the training session… Which, to him, feels more of a bitter fight between the eldest twins.

"You know we could've handled the Foot,  _together_." Raphael stated, his Emerald-green eyes flashing with mixture of anger and disappointment towards his shorter older-twin.

"To you, perhaps, but not Don or Mikey. We were being a bit overrun by the Kraang." Leo argued back, bringing his sword down to have Raph trap the blade in both of his sais.

"And instead of letting me to come along to have your back, you chose to go up and probably show off to Karai." Raphael leaned in to tower over his brother, only for the blue-masked turtle to pull himself backwards, resulting to pulling his brother with him and, using his feet, launch him over himself and forcing the red-masked turtle on his shell.

"If that's what you think, then how does spilling the blood of her followers an act to 'showing off'?  _-He got to his feet, his brother doing the same.-_ I left them a warning to stay away from us, or next time they'll end up paying my kindness with their life."

"Which also allows Karai to study our moves for next time." Again, Raph can't see Leo's reason to being just. "You don't leave a warning to the enemy, Leo. You take 'em down."

"I already told you, I can't take her down.  _-Leo charged at his brothers, once again having Kamiizumi trapped in-between the two sais.-_ I owe her a debt. I have to give her the right to be judged."

"Oh, yeah? Well, if that's the case, why not tell the others?"

The blue-masked turtle was getting tired of having to repeat his answer from their previous argument.

 _'Times like this, I feel like a broken record, repeating itself over and over to them.'_ "Did you even listen to anything I just told you, from our last conversation? You guys don't follow the path of Bushido; they wouldn't understand."

In response, Raphael used his strength to toss Leonardo to the side, forcing him to hit the wall with his shell. He then pinned him against the wall, his arm planted firmly against his plastron.

"You really think Mikey and Donnie wouldn't understand?" He paused for a moment to rethink what he just said, before rephrasing the question. "You really think Donnie wouldn't understand? That book nerd educated himself on warriors of the Feudal Era as you and Master Splinter lived by it."

"You really think studying up the code of Feudal Era warriors fought by, is the same as those who were trained to live by that code? You really think that will help them understand what I must do, from what my Code of Honor demands of me*?"

Leo didn't give his brother a chance to answer, bringing up his left-palm and using his own strength to force Raph off of him, smacking him square in the throat that sent him falling right back down to the ground. With his sais forced from his grasp, the thought of his beloved weapons no longer in his grasp fueled the anger that burns through Raph's soul. Sensing the danger, but not wanting to run the risk of injuring his angered brother, Leo sheathed Kamiizumi away and went into hand-to-hand combat.

He swung a fist to collide to his head, only for the red-masked turtle to duck and ram himself against Leo's plastron, sending the both of them to the ground and having the blue-masked turtle pinned underneath him. Raph delivered two punches onto his brother, only for Leo to, once again, thrust his left-hand to force Raph backwards when the palm collided with his jaw. The leader in blue, now free from his brother, got on his hands and feet and pounced on top of Raph's shell.

The added weight, no matter how minimal it compares to his own, brought Raphael back down to the ground and soon, was in a headlock.

"You have to trust me." Leo growled out.

"Why should I?"

"My loyalty to the clan will always be my top priority and, should she fail the test and proves to being like the Shredder, I'll end her with my own blade the next time we encounter each other."

Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes glared in Emerald-green eyes, showing no hesitation or any form of misgiving that would have the red-masked turtle doubt what his brother just said to him. And if there was one thing Raph knows about his twin, is that he always puts his family first above everything else. He still hates the idea of Leo's decision to owe her a form of debt, but is willing to let his brother do what he must.

"…Alright." He calmed down some, allowing the blue-masked turtle to release his twin from his grasp and onto his feet, giving him a nod of thanks before making his way to the shoji.

"…Oh, and another thing.  _-Leo turned to face Raph, giving him a warning glare.-_ Stop trying to shadow me, all the time; it's becoming a distraction, and getting on my nerve."

He didn't wait to hear his brother agreeing to do as he told him and left him, alone, in the dojo. At the living room, he saw Mikey laughing about something he doesn't know what, which clearly annoyed Donnie and April seemed uncertain to respond to the youngest-turtle's laughing. She looked up to where the blue-masked turtle was, and immediately smiled.

"Hey, Leo!" She got up from her spot and went towards the fifteen year-old, not noticing an ugly glare Don was sending to his older-brother from watching the redhead's joy to see him.

"April," he greeted with a smile. "Did you finish your homework?"

She gave him friendly roll of the eyes.

"Of course I have,  _ **Otōto**_ (Little brother)." Leo chuckled to her last response.

 _ **"** **Anata wa kaizen shite imasu**_  (You are improving), _ **"**_ he commented.

 _ **"Arigato.** **Watashitachiha kunren dekimasu ka**_  (Can we train) _ **?"**_ Yep, there was that determination that he should've expected to see from her, always up and ready for more private lessons with the blue-masked turtle. However, while his relationship with the girl has greatly improved, the anger and jealousy coming from Donatello was very troubling to him.

_He needs to quit with this jealousy over April. He should obviously see there's nothing going on between you two, besides that you finally accept her as your sister._

**_Until Omega-Brother Donatello allows self to truly see, Kin will harbor incorrect attitude towards Pup._ **

_'Basically, don't talk to him of the subject until he wants to talk about it… Let's hope he doesn't allow his feelings to jeopardize future missions.'_ "Sorry, April, but we're gonna have to hold off training for the moment. We'll continue are next session on Friday. All right?"

"What? Why?" She asked, a bit taken back to why he's refusing to train her today. In the back of her head, she has a feeling Donnie is the cause for it, also sensing a tension coming off of the purple-masked turtle and recalling his outburst when learning Leo has been giving her private lessons.

"I actually planned to focus on Karasu's training this week, before… Well, she's ready to go.  _-A faint trail of sadness can be heard in his voice, but made sure to not show it to the others when it'll also be a joyous moment for the raven/crow-hybrid.-_ Besides, it's a school night and with summer vacation coming up, it'll probably be best to remain focus on completing the last of your school work to ensure your education isn't damage from training all the time."

It was no lie, and a very believable reason for the sixteen year-old to accept. Not only that, she can tell he wants to spend as much time with Karasu as possible before he releases her.

And speaking of the raven/crow-hybrid…

 _ **"Big Brother!"**_ The small black-bird, who finished taking her usual midnight nap, came out of Leo's room and, when she saw the blue-masked turtle, immediately flapped her wings and flew towards the turtle, taking her spot on his left-shoulder.

"Hey, Kara." He greeted, gently stroking her head. "You ready?"

 _ **"I'm ready, Leo! Let's go!"**_ Karasu cheered, letting out high-pitch caws with glee and shifting her wings to avoid hitting him in the head.

"Where you two going?" April asked, watching the turtle slowly making his way to the exit.

"Topside," he answered. "We're heading for the park. Tonight will be Karasu's final test, which will determine if she's ready or not."

"Oh! In that case, can I come, too?" Rather than wait, she immediately came to his side, reaching out to pet Karasu. The two youngest turtles were taken back at her request, just as much as Leo was.

"You want to come along?" He asked. "I thought you wanted to train?"

His response earned him a confused look on the redhead's face, cocking her head to the side.

"You just said I should hold off training until Friday."

"I meant holding off our training sessions, not with Sensei's. You could even ask the guys to help you with training, if you wanted to do so."

Don's eyes widen to his brother's suggestion, then decided to use Leo's suggestion to his favor.

"Yeah, April,  _we_  can help you with your training, too."

The redhead held in a groan of annoyance. She would've taken up that offer, but because the genius turtle has interrupted their previous lessons five times, she didn't want to snap at him in front of Mikey or hurt his feelings for rejecting their help.

"Maybe some other time, Donnie." She answered, giving him a small-smile of appreciation that made him not too upset to postponing the offer. "Why not you two come with us? If Karasu going to leave the nest, soon, we should all be there to see how well she's flying."

In a few seconds, Michelangelo got to his feet and stood beside them.

"Count me in," he said. "We haven't had some bro-time in so long, we were overdue for one."

"Ahem." April reminded him that she was here.

"Oh, and some sis-time."

"Thank you." She turned to Don, who seemed a bit hesitate to join them. "Donnie, you coming?"

He clearly wanted to go, but purposely pretended to think about it for a moment before giving her his answer.

"…Sure, why not?" He answered, closing his laptop as he made his way to the group. "I was hoping to see how much of an improvement of her flight patterns will be, compared to ravens and crows normal learning span. So, this will be the perfect time to get the information."

As they reach for the exit, Mikey stopped in his tracks.

"Should we ask Raph if he wants to come with?" He asked the group, wanting to have all his brothers together and not leave one hanging.

"No need to ask." Said red-masked turtle came out from the dojo, making his way to the group. "I'm coming along… Also, I'm bring Spike, too."

* * *

 **Midnight, at New York Central Park…  
** "All right, Karasu. You ready?"

The five teenagers stood together on a bridge, all having a front row seat for a show, starring Karasu. The raven/crow-hybrid was obviously nervous, even anxious to show her 'Older-Brothers' and 'Big-Sister' what her 'Big-Brother' has been teaching her through videos and his own training. But at the same time, she was so ready to show how much of a great flyer she's becoming, and make Leo proud of her.

 _ **"I'm ready!"**_ She chirped with glee, stretching her wings out and ready to take off when giving the all clear to do so. To his left, April had her phone out, wanting to record this moment for them to be able to relive this moment in the future and show it to Splinter.

"You can do this, Kara. And remember what you've learned, for they'll save you should your life ever be in danger." Karasu chirped, confirming to take his words to heart. Then, the moment he lifted his arm up, she took that as the signal to fly.

…And she flew. She flapped her wings at a steady beat, heading away from the turtles and April to the far side of the lake. When reaching the end of the water, she pushed herself to fly up, flapping her wings harder to push with the wind. She flew about forty feet in the air, before she made herself do a reverse somersault to stop herself from going any higher. She then angled herself to veer right, shifting herself to fly over the teens below her and giving them a loud "Auww!".

She then twisted herself, twirling herself into a Aileron roll, as she dived down, increasing speed by tucking her wings against her back. The younger brothers and April were stunned by the speed she's going the closer she reaches to them, while Leo only smiled. Then, at the exact moment, she unfold her wings and angled herself to fly through the hole under the bridge, bringing parts of the water to move with her and to rise up when lifting herself back in the air. Again, she performed a reversed somersault, flying over the teen while upside down in the middle of the air, once again going through the hole of the bridge and, twisting herself to perform a barrel roll to right herself, flew back to Leo.

April and the younger brothers were clearly amazed on what they just seen, while Leonardo held pride in his gaze… Tears threatening to fall, but not carrying should they fall.

"…I'm so proud of you," he said. Karasu flapped her wings, screeching in joy.

 _ **"I'm a great flyer, and it's all thanks to you, Big Brother!"**_ She rammed her head against his, nuzzling his beak with her own.

"Dude, that was awesome!" Michelangelo exclaimed, coming beside his brother and scooping the raven/crow-hybrid into his own arm, nuzzling his face against the bird's head.

"I gotta concur with Mikey, that was definitely a sight to behold." Donatello commented, going through the video on his T-Phone that April sent to him and the rest of the guys. "She clearly shows to having more traits from her raven heritage, despite still being smaller than the average age-group of full-blooded ravens."

"Her flying was so awesome, Leo, that even Spike was impressed." Raphael stated, whose pet turtle didn't exactly appear as Raph claimed his expression to be but can sense the turtle enjoyed being out and above the sewers.

"What else did you teach her?" April asked, hoping to see more and catch everything the blue-masked turtle trained Karasu to do. The raven/crow-hybrid, also, wanted to show her 'older-siblings' more on what Leo has taught her and was more than ready to return to the sky.

Before he could give her an answer, his sixth sense informed him that somebody was watching them. He knew that it wasn't any of the critters in the trees or nocturnal birds; they do tend to stare in curiosity and observe what they do, but wouldn't linger for very long when seeing no movement of them being a threat or coming for them. The feeling Leo is sensing, is more comparable to a predator looking for an opening to strike and how to properly diminish the herd of their enemy, with no difficulties.

His gut feeling told him he knew who it was, and what he must do*.

"…Sorry, April, but we weren't planning on staying for very long." He lied, earning confused glances from her and his brothers. "We only had enough time for one, short flying session. Not only that, but it's getting late and you have to get plenty of rest for tomorrow."

She just about argued with her own statement on not needing that much rest, only for a yawn to escape and, unintentionally, prove his point of her needing rest. April let out an annoyed groan, earning a pat on the back from Raphael in an attempt to cheer her up.

"For a fifteen year-old turtle, you sure act like a parent." Leo chuckled at her comment, holding his arm out for the raven/crow-hybrid to return to him.

"Well, considering that I'm the one who raised Karasu since she barely hatched from an egg, you can say I had some practice.  _-Karasu walked down his arm and took roost on his right-shoulder, rubbing her head against his.-_  Now, come on. Let's head back to the Lair. Since it's late, you should stay for the night, so your aunt doesn't stress from the thought of you venturing out on your own."

While Karasu wasn't thrilled of having her sessions be over so soon, she can tell the blue-masked turtle has his reasons and those reasons always made the difference between life and death, so she didn't make much of a protest to his decision.

As they all turn to leave the park from whence they came, Leonardo turned to where the trees are, his sixth sense helping him locate where he felt the pair of Chocolate/Amber-eyes are staring from. Even from afar distance, his glare could easily be read and knew she will get the message:  _Leave them alone, or I'll come after you._  A faint shifting from one of the trees caught his attention, but no longer felt Karai there, anymore. Just as he expected, she's taken the message to heart.

_Is that part of your test for her? You know she won't honor your demands._

_'I know… However, she knew my threat will be true and that thought, alone, is enough for her to accept part of my term.'_

**_Pup wants She-Pup Karai to fight Pup… As excuse to not fight, avoid Kins?_ **

_'That's what I'm hoping she will do. On the bright side and, to my greatest relief, she didn't attack us while we were watching Karasu's demonstration of her progress.'_

_And that, alone, is enough for her to pass?_

_'…No. Only a fool would make up excuses in their inability to accept an enemy from a clan's enemy, is still an enemy until they prove themselves worthy to many members of the team. Besides, her test will take place when she ends up in a battle with us against our enemy. More specifically, Kraang.'_

"Hey, Leo! You okay back there?" Raph's voice called out, pulling the blue-masked turtle from his conversation with his Instinct and Conscience. He quickly caught up to them, giving them an apologetic smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine… Thought I saw something. It was probably an owl." His answer was permissible, considering some of the owls' calls echoing throughout Central Park and even seeing a few of the nocturnal birds flying over their heads.

Karasu knew he lied, purposely not wanting the others to know what he saw, which was a human, hiding within a tree.

 _ **"Who is she?"**_ She asked, gazing up at Leo to tell her what he knows about that human she was able to see from their spot. Not wanting the others to get the chance to listen in on their conversation, Leonardo imitated a dooking sound that ferrets make when they're happy or excited.

_**"Later, Karasu. Once we're home and in our room, I will tell you what I know about her and what you need to know, should you ever see her while on your own."** _

In her mind, she didn't really understand what he meant 'on her own'. Probably, when she goes off to spy on the Foot, like that one time she did to listen in on Shredder's conversation when their home was in grave danger. She didn't ask him of his meaning, only nodded to accept his choice to wait until they get home.

* * *

 **The Next Day, in Mid-Morning…**  
"So… Are you going to tell the guys about her?"

_'He just don't know when to drop a conversation, that he shouldn't be too concern about, since he isn't the one who has to be bound to follow the Code of Bushido.'_

_ Perhaps, but his question is justifiable. She may have kept her distance last night and didn't make a move upon you guys, but you know she won't do so, again, the next time you guys meet up with the Foot. And once that happens, they need to be informed on how to hold their own against her. _

_'…Very well.'_ "…Soon, Raph." He answered, earning a raised brow and a bit of a surprise look on his twin-brother's face. Clearly, he wanted a clearer answer than that. "…I'll tell them tonight, after our patrol." The red-masked turtle nodded his head, accepting the answer, before the two went to the kitchen and joined their younger brothers for breakfast.

"Okay, guys, what do you want: Omelet pizza or pizza omelet?"

Both suggestions made Leo's stomach churn, slightly grimacing from both thought of food.

_'Does everything he makes, has to be involved with pizza?'_

"What's the difference?" Raphael asked, not seeing how both would be different when they have the same name in it.

Still having a smile on his face, Mikey brought out a bowl of eggs.

"Okay, you caught my bluff." Leo silently let out a sigh of relief, his stomach settling down when learning he was just going to make omelets.

_'Thank you, Merciful God in Heaven.'_

_***Na-na-na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na!*** _

Multiple ringtones went off at once, coming from all of the turtles' T-Phones.

**_Being attacked by an old lady! HELP!_ **

"Hey, did you guys just get a mass text from April?" Don asked, all confirming his question. "Well, does yours also say she's being attacked by an old lady?" Again, his three brothers confirmed his second question. "Is that considered an emergency?"

_Being attacked by an old lady…? That could only mean-!_

"Let's go!" Leonardo yelled, getting his three brothers to get to their feet and made a mad dash out of the Lair for the girl's school.

* * *

 **Fifteen Minutes Later, Now at Roosevelt High School...**  
The turtles ran through the door, their weapons drawn out and cautiously walked down the hallway.

 _*Gasp*_ "Suh-weet!" Mikey, with awestruck eyes, couldn't help but be impress what their human goes to most of the week. "So, this is what school is like."

An alarm went off, flashing orange-lights came from both side of the hallway, coming from the metal detectors. Wanting the alarms to go off, Raphael stabbed at one of the panels to force the metal detectors to go off. With that problem taken cared of, the four brothers soon realized that they're not alone: There, standing at the end of the hallway, with their back turned to them, is the presumed 'old lady' April must've text them about.

…The two middle brothers instantly felt embarrassed of their earlier reaction.

"Okay, I feel stupid." Raphael said, putting his sais back in his belt.

_'If he feels stupid right now, he and the others are going to feel more stupid that we just ran into a public, human school and standing before a human, when we should be avoiding any humans to knowing our existence… Which, there aren't any signs of teenagers, or teachers anywhere in the facility?'_

_ …That is kind of strange… Did school cancelled, and she didn't get the memo or something? _

_'…It's possible that something made the school close for today, and prevented any contacts to reach April. **-His eyes zoomed in on the trophy case, seeing a hole in the glass case and the scattered shards of glass on the ground, turning back to the lady in front of them and seeing some glass in her right-hand.-** And I have an idea on who plotted this.'_

"This doesn't make any sense; she knows that the T-Phones are for emergencies, only." Donatello pondered, neither of the brothers noticing what their leader in blue was going to do until, without warning, he launched himself to the lady, Kamiizumi extended forward. "Leo!"

_Rrrrrriiiiiiip_ _*Shnk!*_

Metal made contact with metal, slicing through fabric… Leonardo's sword sticking out of the lady's stomach.

"Leo?! What the hell?!" Raphael screamed, equally appalled as his younger brothers that their big brother just stabbed his blade into a human… Who isn't bleeding, didn't stagger and not screaming in pain?

The blue-masked turtle sank his sword deeper into the 'old lady', no mercy or regret when the sparks continued out from the stab.

"Where's April?" He growled out. The 'old lady' didn't respond for a few seconds, until, unexpectedly, she turned her head like an owl to stare at the turtle behind her, her eyes completely red.

"A-A-April O'Neil?" Rather than stick around, Leo pulled his blade out and pulled himself back to stand beside his brothers. Her stomach sparked and glitch with electricity, indicating she isn't a human at all.

"Aw, Sewer Bunnies." Raph cursed out, re-pulling his weapons back into battle.

Clanking sound could be heard from the lady, as she raised her arms and, when folded back, where there should be elbows, reveals to being two cannon holes. It let out a screech and two missiles shot right out, aimed straight for the four turtles. All four dodged from the missiles and ran, only for the explosion to push them for the stairs.

"Donnie, I think this does counts as a-"

"An emergency. I know!" Donatello cut off Michelangelo, which was followed by the screech from above the turtles and all pulled away from the stairs when the lady implanted her high-heel shoes on the wooden-railing, where Mikey and Leo were just at.

From behind her, Raphael launched himself in the air and brought down his said, which the middle tip went through the lady's right-hand when she went to block the attack. Even when light-purple lightning sparked down her arm, all the lady did was smirk up at the hotheaded turtle and, twirling her embedded hand in the air, tossed Raphael to the top of the trophy case.

While that was going on, Donatello looked up at the wooden chandelier hanging above the lady. While part of his mind wanted to know why a school would have such a dangerous design in the school*, he focus on the main part of his brain to launch himself to the chandelier and cut it with the blade of his Naginata. The lady, however, heard the rope being cut and pulled herself away from the stairs, avoiding the wooden chandelier on time and breaking when it made contact to the ground.

She landed on her hands and feet, appearing to position like a crouched spider, before getting back on her feet and facing all four turtles in front of her.

_ She isn't really much of a fighter, but her missiles are a major threat to you and your brothers. _

_'Right.'_ "Donnie, follow my lead. Raph, we need you to cover for us." Leonardo ordered, glaring at the lady before them. The two brothers nodded at each other.

The lady raised her arms and, like before, allowed two more missiles to charge for the turtles. Following his brother's move, Donatello charged. While Raphael pulled out two shurikens and tossed them at the incoming missiles, both hitting their marks and forcing the missiles to explode. When she readied herself to fire at Leo and Donnie, the two jumped off to the side, moving and not giving her enough time to aim for them. When they got close enough, each swiped for an arm with their own blades… Along with her face which, when if fell off, showed to being no skeleton or muscles, but machine and wires. A robot.

"Mikey! The water fountain!" Leonardo called out to the youngest-turtle, who turned to acknowledge the fountain.

"I know, right? School has everything!"

The blue-masked turtle held in a groan.

"No! Spray her!" He rephrased his orders, which Mikey quickly turned on the water fountain and aimed the water to hit the robot in it's uncovered face. Sparks flew, electricity traveled throughout it's body, until smoke appeared over it's head and fell to the floor.

Leo stood over it's body and kept a firm eye on the machine, in case it tries to get up and attack, again, with or without arms.

"April! Where are you?" Donatello called out, looking for any sign of the girl. For his answer, a foot kicking a locker door open and April, stomping towards the down robot and kicking it on the head.

"And stay down." She told the robot, completing her moment to get back at the robot before turning to the turtles. "Thank you, guys." Unknowingly, she rested a hand on Donatello's left-shoulder, making the turtle blush and, without thinking, open his arms to her, as if expecting her to walk right in and let him hold her. Leo glared at his genius brother, who soon realized that he was, once again, caught expressing his feelings to the girl he has a major crush on.

He quickly try to make a cover up.

"You are so welcome." He replied, casually, then rested one of his hand on top of her head, as if she was one of his brothers. When he pulled away, the teenagers stared down at the robot before them.

"So, what the heck is that thing?"

"It appears to be a Kraangdroid… Minus the Kraang." Don suggested, staring at the flashing pinkish-lights of the hexagon and twitching wires.

"She said she was from the Worldwide Genome Project."

"Whoa." Mikey gasped, holding the face of the old lady to his own. "How did the Kraang know you sent your DNA spit to the Worldwide Thingamajig Project?"

"The Kraang must've hacked in to their system," the purple-masked turtle suggested. "Who knows what kind of info they could be stealing?"

"April, you'd better head to the Lair, where it's safe." Leonardo told the sixteen year-old, who didn't argue to his order. "We'll go check out the Worldwide Genome Project."

"But, first, we gotta take down the Eastside High Panthers." Mikey said, staring at a poster of April's school mascot standing on top of a panther. "According to that poster, they've got it coming."

* * *

 **Hours Later, at Night…  
** It took some time, but they were finally able to figure out where the Worldwide Genome Project was located. Being out in the daytime was exhausting for the guys, that they skipped lunch and almost dinner, if Mikey hadn't suggested eating at Murakami's. Leo allowed himself to eat the pizza gyoza that's presented to him, knowing he'll need it to help keep up his strength and energy he'll need for the remainder of the night, even when his stomach will be feeling like knives are digging into his organ. ****  


After their visit with Murakami, the four continued for the large, cylinder building... None but Leo sensing somebody following them. His nose recognized the scent belonging to Karai, but didn't say anything to his brothers about her tailing them... At least, not now.

_ You're just going to let her follow you? _

_'It she's out here, on her own, under Shredder's orders or not, that means she doesn't have anybody to contact of our whereabouts.'_

**_Meaning, Pup and Kins can outnumber She-Pup Karai, should She-Pup make an attack on Pup or Kins._ **

The four turtles found themselves on the circular rooftop, finding the door that leads inside of the building having a specific lock that requires a Kraang-Key.

"So how do we get in?" Raphael asked.

"Leave it to me." Donatello informed how brothers, pulling out a cord that connects how T-Phone to any electronics. "I got an app for that."

Raphael and Michelangelo let out groans of annoyance, while Leo focused on looking out their surroundings, making certain that nobody but Karai is the only one following them.

"I got an app for that, too." Raph said to his brother, before kicking the door down and allowing them all access into the building.

Unlike their last visit with Kraang's hideout, when the guys attempted to rescue Kirby O'Neil a second time, the Worldwide Genome Project was dark. The only lighting in the hallway, is the building's initials pinkish-purple lights glowing. Even with dim lights, the blue-masked turtle can see, along with feel, a very familiar design on the walls and material of the metal they're walking on.

_'And what other building has pinkish-purple lighting within their facility, with metal floorings?'_

_ Kraang… _

"You know, for a human lab, this place is awfully Kraang-y." Michelangelo whispered to his brothers, as they speed-walk down the hallway.

_**So obvious, even Omega-Brother Michelangelo can tell building isn't right.** _

"It could be, because the Kraang  _are_  the Worldwide Genome Project." Leonardo stated, slightly sniffing the air and catching the scent of Kraang. "We're nearing some Kraang."

"How do you know that?" Raph asked, earning a silent finger pointing towards the faint glow of Aquamarine-blue reflecting off the ground. And when they see that color, that mean mutagen and where there's mutagen, there's bound to be Kraang.

Leonardo turned to Donatello and Michelangelo.

"You both know what to do." Both of the youngest turtles nodded their heads, silently sneaking into the room where the blue-masked turtle hear two Kraangdroids are inside. While they took care of the Kraang, Leo turned to Raphael. "We have a rat trailing us." He whispered to his red-masked brother.

Raph narrowed his eyes.

"Where?" He asked, itching for his sais.

"Wait until we're all in the room... Then, you may go hunting." Raph nodded his head, following his leader's command and entering the room when Don and Mikey took care of the two Kraang and locked them in an empty slot in the wall.

Inside the room, as expected, mutagen within a container in the center of the room. However, surrounding the turtles against the walls, containers containing a single, colored-liquid. Each had a picture image of either an animal or a plant.

"Don, what are those?" Leo asked, though he has a strange feeling that he knows what the liquids are for… Along with the disturbing thought on what happened to those animals that were taken and captured by Kraang.

"Well, it looks like they're collecting DNA from every plant and animal species on Earth." While the purple-masked turtle thought up an answer, the blue-masked turtle noticed Raph pulling a ninja, meaning he's taken the moment to get Karai. "I wonder what they're doing with all this DNA."

 _'Probably to make their own mutated-animal army, like us, to control or even experiment for something worse…'_  "Whatever it is, it can't be good. Let's shut this place down."

"Hey, where's Raph?" Mikey asked, taking notice that their red-masked brother is no longer with them.

"Gotcha!" Said hothead's voice came from above the others, on top of the container of the mutagen… Pinning Karai below him, with her right-arm extended back.

"About time you finally came to visit, Karai." Leo joked, pride shown in his eyes on how his bigger-twin caught her by surprise and has her trap.

"Ka-who?" Don asked.

"Bet you think you're pretty slick." Raph mocked, thinking she's at his mercy.  _'If she's as skilled as Leo views her to be, how come she's easy to catch?'_

He got his answer when she grabbed for his hand with her own trapped hand, force-twist his hand to release her wrist and, when pulling herself up, spun Raph onto his shell and slammed her foot on his plastron.

"I have my moments." Her comment angered Raph, he attempted to kick her off while pushing himself forward to his feet, while the Kunoichi backflipped herself before his feet could make contact with her. With his sais drawn out, Raphael charged Karai.

He swiped them like claws, missing the first two and locking together with the edge of her metal arm-guard, giving her right-arm to grab for her Wakizashi and turning the tables to her favor to go into the offense. She landed a powerful kick to his plastron, then proceeded to pushing him off the edge of the tank whenever her Wakizashi forces the turtle to block her attacks.

While this was going on, while he should intervene and stop the fight, Leonardo knew it isn't his place to fight his brothers' battles… Along with having to see what Karai would do, as part of the test he's viewing her to take.

_ She's going to kill Raph, your own  **brother**! _

_'If she wanted to kill him, she would've already done so the moment she had him beneath her feet.'_ He stated, keeping a firm eye on the two teens above him fighting, revolving Raph going back to the offense and pushing her back.  _'Besides **-He glared at his brother-** Raphael told me that he trusted me with my judgement, which he's showing to be false.'_

_You just gave him permission to take her down!_

_'I gave him permission to go hunting, as in bring her out of hiding, **not**  to pick a fight with the one who helped us in our last confrontation with Snakeweed… And he knew what I meant. Nevertheless, i_ _f they go too far, I'll step in… Which, I may have to, should Kraang come in.'_

"So this is the stuff that turns people into monsters, huh?" She questioned the red-masked turtle, easily sliding her weapon through the gap of his sais. "How's it work?"

"Why don't you lean in a little closer, and I'll show you?" Raph answered. After he said it, when she brought both their weapons down, she bashed her head with his and forced him off the tank of mutagen. He landed on his feet, right about the time she dropped down to land a fatal blow with her Wakizashi.

Before either of the twos' weapons could even scrape each other… Leonardo got in the middle, Kamiizumi pushing back Raph's sais and Musashi clashing with Karai's sword. Both fighters were stunned by his interference, one still seething with rage for his opponent and the other uncertain if she'll be facing more than one of the turtles into a brawl.

"Enough." He growled at the two, glaring at his brother to express his disappointment to his twin.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Leo?" Raph yelled, clenching tightly onto his precious sais. "You're protecting her? She's bad news."

"And you swore to trust me and my judgement, Raphael." Surprising his brothers and the Kunoichi, the blue-masked turtle turned his shell to Karai. "I have a code to follow, which  _you_  aren't willing to do or ever had to honor."

Throughout the argument, none of the brothers or Karai took notice of two small figures heading for the panels, until they heard something slam against the controls and an alarm sound went off. Turning, they saw it being the two Kraang that Donatello had locked within the empty container. The two aliens screeched at the teenagers, before getting their heads smacked by Michelangelo's nunchucks.

"D, I thought you made sure they didn't get out." He said to the purple-masked turtle.

"I made certain they wouldn't be able to escape, especially from the inside." The genius turtle claimed, also a bit taken back that none of them took notice that they got out.

"Not unless they had a little  _help_." Raphael suggested, glaring daggers at Karai and would've launched himself at the girl, if his twin hadn't remain in the way.

Above the room, a door opened and a bunch of Kraangdroids with blue-skin entered the room, all having blasters in their hands. More entered the room, as they came down to the teens' level, surrounding them.

 **"The ones who are not authorized by the authority of Kraang to exist in this place, will now be destroyed by Kraang in this place."** One of the Kraangdroids spoke, readying its blaster to shoot the intruders. The four brothers, no longer viewing Karai as a threat, for the time being, turned their attentions to the Kraang circling them.

"This day just keep getting better." The Kunoichi commented, twirling her Wakizashi to take on her new opponents.

"And if you get hit by them, you die." Leonardo warned the girl, before leaping in the air the moment some of the Kraang pulled the trigger of their blasters.

The first Kraang he aimed for, he sliced the top-half of the endoskeleton in four pieces before making a landing.

_Your left!_

He didn't need to see which Kraang to his left his Conscience was referring to; they were all the same, and Musashi has proved itself enjoying the freedom to slice through metal and spill the blood of it's wielder's enemies.

Multiple flash of light-pink bullets hailed down, which he easily dodged and/or reflected with his swords, before going to his left and ramming against a Kraang. He shoved the Kraang through the crowd of Kraangdroids until he reached the wall near the door... Stabbing Kamiizumi through the blue-skin... Killing the scared Kraang.

Once again, he doesn't enjoy taking life. But, for the sake of his family, and the ways of war Splinter trained him to do, he'll kill to protect... Even if it means, being shunned and damned for doing what he must.

 _'Nothing I do, will ever make up for the sin I just committed.'_ He thought to himself, turning to face some of the Kraangdroids that has ceased firing after witnessing the death of their own.  _'And while this will surely not be the last killing I make in my life, I vow to never take the life of an innocent being and will put myself to death, dying to protect those who are in need.'_

His eyes scoped out his brothers, all of which holding their own fights... And Karai, who tossed her Wakizashi at a Kraangdroid's head and launched herself in the air by pushing off of the robot. She landed on top of another Kraangdroid nearby the blue-masked turtle and stabbed her blade through its chest this time, bringing it down by the combined force of her strength and it's lost of power.

She looked up at the turtle a few feet away from her, eyes widening a bit from the sight of Magenta-red blood on one of his blades, catching her a bit by surprise.

"Hyah!" Across the otherside of the room, Raphael tackled down two Kraangdroids an the same time.

"I like your brother, Leo." Karai called out, leaping in the air and getting behind three Kraangdroids, cutting the endoskeleton in half. "He's almost as entertaining as you."

Raphael, who finished stabbing a Kraangdroid through the face with one of his sais, the sai in his left-hand having a Kraangdroid hand through the middle fang of the weapon.

"Oh, when this is over, I'll show you how entertaining I can be."

More Kraangdroid entered the room, but this time, they brought in something that a tank, in the form of a large-blaster.

**"Kraang is now arriving to provide the help that has been requested by Kraang."**

"We're trapped, Leo." Donatello informed, he and Michelangelo forced behind the blue-masked turtle and Raphael when some of the Kraang made their space a little smaller.

"No…  _You're_  trapped." Karai corrected the purple-masked turtle, bringing the attention of both the turtles and the many Kraang. She leaned against a panel, underneath the mutagen. "What happens when I do this?" She held a finger above one of the many buttons.

"No!" Raph yelled.

"Don't do that!" Donnie warned.

 **"Highly undesirable outcome."** A Kraang answered, not sounding scared but it words promising to being painfully true.

"Well, now I gotta."

She pushed the button, and behind the turtles, watch as five liquids drained from their containers and went straight to the mutagen: Dark-yellow, with the symbol of a jellyfish. A bluish-purple, an isopod picture over the container. An ocean-blue liquid, the octopus. A dark-blue violet, containing a cobra. And lastly, a dark-green liquid… Having a cat, which produced a high-pitch, girl scream from Michelangelo?

Leonardo didn't have time to be concern of his brother's unexplainable fear of cats, not when he and everyone in the room watches as the five liquids entered the mutagen tank and flashing colors brightened the room. A high-pitch hum escaped the machine, until it stopped after five seconds and a hissing sound replaced the humming. Smoke-like substance escaped from the top of the tank… And something wet made contact with the metal.

 _'It's out.'_ His heart hammered against his plastron, as his hands clenched tightly to his swords.

_ A mutant, composed up of five DNAs from different animals… Doesn't sound very good, at all. _

Multiple sounds of metal hitting the ground, warned the blue-masked turtle that the unknown mutant is making its attack. Karai barely dodged from a tentacle that slammed down to where she stood, backflipped to stand beside the turtles and see what kind of creature dares to attack her.

When the smoke finally cleared, they all saw a creature that was… Either adorable, or completely unexpected to see what a five mixed animal mutant would look like: A body of an octopus, yellow-eyes coated in some purple substance on the side of its head, flappy thin-ears behind the eyes, and some armor-shaped shell on the top of its head.

"Mrrreerrww?" It made a cat sound, making it sound confused on what's going on.

"Aww." Mikey, gotten over his uncertain fear of cats from the sound it made and lowering his guard. "He's so cute." It clearly fooled the orange-masked turtle, but the leader in blue didn't fall for that innocent meow.

 _'It's a defense mechanism; to throw it's opponents off guard, assuming it isn't dangerous and the moment we give it an opening, it'll go into attack mode and pick us off like wondering sheep.'_ "Get ready!" He yelled at the teens, glaring straight into the creature's eyes… Which stretched its head to be fifteen feet tall, fins sprouting underneath the armor at the back of its head, eyes pulled away from the head and now holding up on both side of the armor.

A large, expanded mouth opened and let out a mighty roar, producing two bottom hooked fangs and a spiked tongue.

 _ **"Prey! Threat! Enemies!"**_ Its cry echoed in Leo's hearing, but it wasn't enough to distract him to not dodged a tentacle that slammed down where he and the others were just at.

The moment it attacked, the Kraangdroids turned their blasters to the beast, attempting to buy the shooter of their tank enough time to charge up a blast and fire. However, thanks to its armored head and enhanced texture covering its eyes, all the blasters did was angered the mutant and the creature attacked with agile speed.

"Whoa! That is wicked." Karai commented.

"How the heck am I gonna name this?" Mikey pondered, not seeing Karai bending over and hauling a top-half of a blue-skinned Kraangdroid endoskeleton until she commented his question.

"Good question. Well, see ya." She launched herself in the air, landing on top of the mutagen tank, before leaping for the door at the upper-level.

Leonardo was appalled at what she's doing.

 _'She's just gong to leave? Just like that?!'_  "You're not going to help us beat this thing? It's your fault!" He argued, stopping her for a moment after she has gotten the door to open.

"I'll let the heroes handle it." She stated, no sound of concern or regret to her decision. Her words angered the blue-masked turtle even more.

_ Figures; she won't take responsibility of her actions… Just like Oroku Saki. _

"So, you're not going to take responsibility of your own actions, which could lead to innocent people getting hurt?" He growled out, his heart banging against his plastron with frustration and a hint of sadness. "I trusted you, to make the right choice! To uphold and respect honor!"

While half of her face is covered by the metal mask that prevents anybody to be able to tell her expression, her Chocolate/Amber-eyes reflected a hidden emotion towards the humanoid-wolf/turtle, which he caught to being partial regret of her decision and partial sympathy for the turtle to clean up a mess she, herself, isn't willing to do… At least, not without labeling herself a traitor to her own clan by aiding the enemy and going back on her father's orders to ridding them.

"I know! That's messed up, right?" She turned to make a run for it, but stopped when Leo called her out.

 _'You blew your chance to proving yourself worthy in my brothers' eyes… And for that, you failed the test…'_ "Then, the next time we cross paths, Karai, my swords will demand to spill your blood… For you have shown me your true-self, as  _my_  enemy."

His words seemed to have inflicted onto her, but her eyes held understanding and no offense being taken on his part.

"It's about time you wised up, Leonardo. I hope you keep true to your words, for I will be counting the hour… When my blade will pierce your heart and de-shell you." And with that being said, she made her escape, leaving behind the one and only person who she accepted to being her friend in the city.

With her finally gone, Leonardo returned his focus to the fifteen foot mutant, whose eyes glowed purple and electricity jumping off of its vision. He was about to launch himself to attack, then, surprisingly, two Kraangdroids came up from both his sides and proceeded to shooting the creature before them.

_The Kraang are on your side, now? Are you going to give them a chance to become your allies, too?_

_'If you want to ridicule me for following Bushido, do it when we aren't fighting for our lives from a five-mixed animal mutant.'_

The creature extended three tentacles and slammed them down to the shooters, which the blue-masked turtle forced himself to jump over the third that tried to pin him to the ground. He then proceed to run for his life when the creature decided to pay attention to him, forcing himself to not look back when purple-beam of lights shot down towards him.

_'Either the mutagen replaced the jellyfish sting with electricity power, or it enhanced it's paralyzes ability to easily stun and/or catch its prey. **-He glanced back at the creature for a moment, watching as it maneuvers itself by crawling on the walls.-** And since it clearly harbors the octopus DNA as the alpha of the five animals, that could mean it can very well regrow its tentacles. It may also have three hearts and nine brains, because of the dominant origin.'_

**_Meaning, Pup can't easily kill creature that easily._ **

_'Its armor proves to being too tough for my blades to cut through, let alone durable to not get a single scratch from Kraang's blasters… However, being part of two sea-creatures, the octopus and jellyfish, it could very well be weak to high exposure of heat.'_

_ So, the best and only option to bring it down: Fire. Although, there's nothing inside this room that's exactly fire hazardous. _

He looked over at the computer of the mutagen tank, as he continued dodging the blasters in front of him and both, purple-electricity and tentacles, from behind.

_'If that's the case, we'll just have to get the creature to help us start a fire.'_

"Nice try, Octo-Punk!" Raphael called out, freeing himself from the mutant's grasp before getting smacked aside when dodging a blaster that was aimed for his head.

"No, No! Call him 'Octo-eyeball-jelly-bug'! Michelangelo suggested the naming of the creature, until finding that name too long and not very creative. "Ahh, let's just call him 'Justin'."

He had his guard lowered, and the creature slammed him to the wall. Raphael, attempting to attack from behind, ending up pinned to the ground. Donatello didn't even have a chance to make an attack when the mutant shot its electricity at the purple-masked ninja.

With the last of the Kraang taken cared of on his end, having to permanently take some of their lives and scaring the rest to leave the room and their endoskeleton bodies, Leonardo turned to face the creature before him.

_'This all happened, because I allowed her to follow us into the building. All because Bushido demands she gets the chance to prove herself worthy in our eyes… And for that, I, alone, must take down this beast… A beast, that I refuse to call "Justin*".'_

_ …Why not refer to it as 'Kraken'? It may not bare any similar resemblance, but at least it's better than 'Justin'. _

_'…At least that name is more referring to its appearance of the octopus.'_ The creature, whose eyes zoomed in on the last being standing, let out a mighty screech and whiplashed its tentacles in the air, readying itself to strike the turtle before him.

_**"Threat! Prey! Kill, enemy!"** _

In response, Leo gave the beast a cry of his own.

"Huuurrraaaahhhhh!" It was combined call of a screech, snarl, roar and a howl.  _ **"Fall by my fangs!"**_ And like that, he charged at the creature.

The creature, he dubbed as 'Kraken', let out multiple shots of purple-electricity beams from its eyes. The leader in blue didn't have to guess where and when they would hit, not when his eyes locked on with Kraken's yellow-eyes and letting himself move with the wind whistling in his ears. Each time an electric attack hits the ground, a pressure of wind current would guide him to move. If the air in front of him has an increase of heat, he knew when to bound under or over an attack.

When he finally got in front of the beast, he didn't hesitate. He launched himself in the air and slammed against the bottom of Kraken's left-eye, using the hilt of his sword to forcefully poke into the creature's eye.

 _'Kraken may have high qualities of being part of five animals, but he may have some of their drawbacks. Like how cats' vision are weak when close to their face.'_ Apparently, his deduction was proven correct; while the eye is very much protected by the purple skin-like jelly, having it being forced back caused Kraken's head to pull along with the eye. Before Kraken could collect itself, he slammed himself against its head and dragging it forward.

Then, as a taunting move, he bashed himself in the center of its forehead, three times, before Kraken sent a tentacle out to fling him in the air.

 _'Like a cat, playing with its food. That's going to be its downfall.'_ He twisted him in the air, allowing gravity to start pulling him down. At the same time, Kraken sent one of its tentacles to grab the turtle and when it neared the turtle…

Leonardo brought down Musashi, cutting through enhanced muscles and blue-blood surfaced when that appendage was forcefully removed from its body. Kraken screeched in pain, before being cut off when the humanoid-wolf/turtle landed on its head and forced it to bend backwards, falling to the ground. He got beside the machine, waiting for the creature to pick itself off the ground.

"It ends here, Kraken." He told the beast, whose eyes instantly lit up of purple-electricity and sending both of the blasts to the turtle.  _'Please, let this work.'_

He held up Kamiizumi to take the hit… And the electricity circulated through the metal-blade, like a lightning rod. He then brought the hilt of Musashi to connect with Kamiizumi's hilt, the electricity coursing through both blades. The feeling of the electricity traveling through his swords burned his hands, burning through the wrappings on his hands, feeling it trying to course down his arms*.

 _'Fight it… Fight it…!'_ "Yaaah!"

He thrusted Musashi through the computer, holding it in place for three seconds while Kraken leaned in forward, continuing to put in more of its electric attack to the turtle's swords… Then, a blackish-green smoke burst from the computer exploding from the overloading of electricity and damage caused by Musashi. The explosion pushed Leo back, barely able to land on his feet when they skid a bit farther. His hands tightened on their hold on his swords, ignoring the burning in his palms and the scent of copper, as he watch Kraken, engulfed in green-flames, bash through the wall and making an attempted escape out from the lab.

"Ha! Take that, Justin!" Michelangelo called out, he and the others reaching their leader to see if he's all right. However, before Donatello could even take a look at his hands, crashing sound can be heard and the lab began to shake. Debris started coming down from the ceiling.

 _'No doubt, Kraken is the cause of this. **-His nose caught thicker smoke in the air, warning him of a fire forming.-** We need to leave!' _"Come on! Let's get out of here!"

He ordered, leading his brothers for the exit before the flames sprouted from their surroundings. Throughout the entire time, he kept a firm grip on his swords, never once releasing his grip on them, even when they reached the roof of the building. Instead of going for his own grappling hook like his brothers did to reach for the top of the building, Leonardo launched himself in the air and jabbed both his blade into the building to stop his fall.

It wasn't until he found himself dangling in the middle of the air, that he pushed himself to roost on Musashi while putting Kamiizumi away, forcing his right-hand to let go of the hilt, and pulled out his grappling hook to swing to where his brothers are safely taking shelter on an fire escape balcony. A few blocks away from the Worldwide Genome Project, they can still clearly see the building and the flames, hearing the sounds of firefighters coming to put out the fire.

After putting away Musashi, a clear struggle for the fifteen year-old to do from the hands trembling and burning pain in his palms, the blue-masked turtle focused on calming his racing heart.

"So…" Mikey slowly started the conversation.

"We're thinking  _somebody_  should start talking." Donatello, clearly was pointing the fingers at Leonardo, suggested. Behind the blue-masked turtle, Raphael quietly waited to see what his twin was going to do.

He knew there was no getting out of this conversation… And he isn't going to try to avoid it, not when he already promised to tell them and deserve to know what they need to know about the Kunoichi from the Foot Clan.

"…We head back for the Lair… Then, I shall speak."  _'Master Splinter and April need to hear what I have to say… Once I finish, then they may choose to decide how they'll view me in their eyes.'_

* * *

 **Back at the Lair** **…**  
"I should've told you sooner about Karai, and I was going to, but I must truly see what her true nature was before I decide what you need to hear about her." Leo lowered his gaze, not wanting to see the betrayal and anger in their eyes.

He finished telling them about Karai: From how they first crossed blades with each other, to his decision on ending her when she failed the trial he gave her in the Spirit of Bushido. He didn't hide anything from them, especially to when she tried to talk him into stealing Miyamoto Musashi's prized sword and how he knew she followed them into the Worldwide Genome Project and told Raphael to wait to catch her by surprise… The only thing he didn't tell them, was viewing her as a friend who understands his longing for freedom from control. And he knew none of them would truly understand his burden, not even Splinter, himself.

On his left-shoulder, Karasu nuzzled her head against his cheek, making light cooing sounds to comfort her brother. On the couch, the three turtles and April could only stare at him.

"I can't believe you didn't trust us enough to tell us." Don was the first to speak up, pure-anger in his tone. "And to just decide to give her a chance to prove herself, just because you 'assumed' she did it to save you and Raph, is more idiotic than letting Mikey be leader."

"Hey!" Michelangelo spoke up, glaring at his older-brother for still not at least giving him a chance to try and become leader. Leo, also, glared at the genius turtle.

"If I had told you of my choice to trial her to being our ally, you would be questioning my authority every time we would run in to her." He clearly had Donnie on that, for he didn't try to counter that claim on denying his faith he has for his big brother.

Splinter stepped up, forcing the turtle to lower his head and avoid any eye-contact with his sensei. Karasu looked between the two, all the while keeping firmly in place on Leo's shoulder and ready to strike, should her 'Papa' attempt to hurt him.

"Leonardo, you follow true to upholding Bushido and chosen to repay your kindness to her… However, when that girl is a Kunoichi in the employ of your enemy, that is an error you cannot afford."

Leo clenched his bandaged hands into tight fists, the burning reminding him to hold back on his strength to prevent blood from escaping his healing wounds.

 _'Always go straight to criticizing me, when I'm doing what **he**  has taught me to follow… And what I know is right, despite it being a wrong doing upon the Clan.' _" **Hai** , Sensei." He forced out.

"Deception is the ninja's most powerful weapon, and it seems Karai is a master." And that comment, Leo hid a small-smile.

 _'So well, that she deceived Shredder and avoided his own orders to eliminate us, on a few separate occasions… Not like any of you would believe me.'_ Splinter placed his left-hand on his son's right-shoulder, using his right to gently force Leo to lift his head up and stare into his eyes.

"Make sure you learn from your mistakes." His Ruby/Amber-eyes gazed straight into Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes… Something in his head flashed to Karai, back at the Worldwide Genome Project. The fifteen year-old narrowed his eyes a bit, confused.

 _'What the shell?'_ He wasn't even trying to think about the girl when his sensei wanted him to listen closely to his words of wisdom, and yet, without any warning, her face popped up in his head.  _'This is getting weird.'_

"Leonardo?" Splinter questioned, concerned when his eldest child didn't give him an answer to his warning. Pushing aside his last conversation with the Kunoichi, he immediately answer the fifty year-old humanoid/rat.

"I understand, Sensei." His voice, clear and calm, eased the father's concern.

 **"** **Yoi** (Good). **"** He pulled away from the blue-masked turtle, waiting to see what he was going to do next, who simply broke the gaze and lowered his head, once again. Karasu, wanting to break the tension in the air, let out a few chirps.

 _ **"Can we go flying, Leo?"**_ She suggested, happily shifting on her feet and slightly ruffling her feathers to show her anticipation to go above the surface.

There was something going on in Leonardo's eyes, something that made her feel unsettling and very worried for the humanoid-wolf/turtle. She bit part of his mask have a few, gentle tugging on the fabric.

 _ **"Big Brother, what's wrong?"**_ He didn't say anything to her, but did turn his head to acknowledge she has his attention... His eyes, carrying difficult emotions she couldn't clearly tell what they are.

Leo held his right-arm to her, which she immediately got on.

"…It's time."

* * *

 **At Central Park...**  
They all stood at the exact, same bridge they all stood from the last time they came, when watching her fly to show what she can do… Only, this time, there won't be any entertainment tonight.

Leonardo didn't tell the others what he was going to do, and he didn't even asked them if they wanted to come along; he already knew they would follow, inviting themselves to wherever the blue-masked turtle was taking Karasu.

This time, though, even Splinter came along, and the first time in over fifteen years, he sees the world that he once lived in as Hamato Yoshi. Part of him truly missed what was once his home before talking refuge in the sewers, but he never regretted the home he and his sons now live in.

In front of three younger brothers, April and Splinter, Leonardo leaned on the ledge of the bridge, gently stroking Karasu's feathers, a solemn look written on his face.

"Karasu," he said. "I made a promise to your parents, before they died, that I would raise you in their place to become a great flyer.  _-He sat up from slouching on the ledge, letting a deep sigh-_ I've taught you, in the best of my abilities, to reach that goal... And now, that day has finally arrived."

Raph, Don and Mikey's eyes widened, instantly figuring out what was going on. Splinter, also, realized what his eldest child was doing and silently watches on what's going to happen.

"Everything you see here, right before your eyes... Is now yours."

Karasu stared at the trees, river and the buildings of New York before her and her flock, taking it all in on what Leo is telling her. She looked from the view of the city, to the turtle who raised her.

_**"... I'm-... I'm free?"** _

Leo, with a forceful smile on his face, nodded his head.

"You're free." Joy, excitement and disbelief can be felt coming off of the raven/crow-hybrid, who seemed to be struggling to stay still until, without any hesitation, took off into the sky.

 _ **"Free! I'm FREE!"**_ She screeched, twisting and turning in the air and performing acrobatic-like stunts.

While everyone watch in awe at her display of agile flying maneuver, Leonardo slowly turned from the bird's performance and quietly made his way off the bridge to find the manhole-cover.

 _'This is for the best,'_ he told himself.

Nobody took notice of the eldest-turtle leaving, nobody except for Splinter and, after gazing down to call out to them, Karasu. She cocked her head, confused and a little taken back of his slow departure.

 _ **"Big Brother?"**_ She instantly shot down and, after hovering to slow down, landed on his left-shoulder, startling the turtle in his tracks.  _ **"What's going on, Leo?"**_

Clearly surprised, he held his arm out and she hopped on his limb.

"You're free now, Karasu." He told her, holding up his arm higher over his head. "You can go, now."

Again, she cocked her head to the side.

 ** _"'Go'? Go where?"_**  Her question surprised Leo.

_'Does she not understand what being free means?'_

_She may be born an animal and have the instincts of her own kind, but being around the guys and Father may had her adapting to their human lifestyle._

"You get to go wherever your heart desires to be," he explained. "You belong up here, on the surface world."

He gently shook his arm a bit, gently coaxing her to fly in the air, again. He turned to continue for his destination, only for the stubborn bird to get up in his face.

 _ **"Why are you heading for den? Without**_ _me **?"**_ She cawed, still not getting what the turtle is doing. He was starting to lose his patience.

"Because... You no longer live in the Lair," he carefully answered. "You belong here, above ground. Your wings belong to the wind, where you earn a place in the sky. Where your voice carries the many whispers, that many cannot hear... Where you'll join a flock of your own kind, and live as you should've lived as since birth... Without  _ **me**_."

She stared into his eyes, continuously flapping her wings to prevent herself from falling when she slowly begin to learn what her freedom would mean.

_**"...Without Clan...? Without…** You **...?"**_

She struggled with her speech, as a heavy mass of weight attempts to pull her down. Leonardo waited patiently, as he watches his companion, his Little Kara, realized what being free will cost her.

The others could only watch, as Karasu suddenly let out screeches in front of the blue-masked turtle's face. They can tell whatever was going on between the two, was only for them and nobody else is to intervene.

 _ **"...No... NO!"**_  Leo held up his arm, allowing her to take roost when she started to have trouble remaining in the air, though he flinched from the volume of her voice irritating his hearing.  _ **"I can't leave you! I** won't  **leave you!"**_

His eyes started to burn, knowing that tears are threatening to fall.

"You're not obligated to stay in the sewers for me, as if you owe some sort of life-debt for raising you." His words slightly quivered, as he stroke her feathers to try and calm her down. "I did it, because I didn't want anybody else to suffer from the hands of Kraang… Like I had. Besides, Sensei and I made an agreement that you could stay until you're able to fly and be on your own. Now that you can fly and learned everything I can teach you to take care of yourself, we have to part ways."

Karasu climbed down his arm until she sat on his left-shoulder, brushing her head against his, still unable to accept what he's making her do.

 _ **"I don't want to leave, Big Brother."**_ She pushed on, her cooing sounds shaking.  _ **"** You **are my wind beneath my wings,** my  **voice that others refuse to listen and you, and the Hamato Clan,**   **the flock I belong to! And if they don't view me as family, then** you **shall be the only family I have in this world and will ever need in my life!"**_

Leo's knees buckled from her words, forcing himself to kneel as he struggled to keep his emotions under control.

_'Doesn't she see I'm doing this, for **her**? To prevent her from living in some cage and to have the chance to live the life she can have, as an actual bird? I refuse to allow her to be forced to stay, like myself.'_

_ She clearly knows what  **she**  wants, and seems more than willing to give up that opportunity to be free, so long it means she's with you. _

_**Ravens and wolves, aid each other to survive, Pup. If Hatchling-Sister wishes to stay with Pup, of own choosing, then none has right to decide for Hatchling-Sister. Pup, included.** _

His eyes watered and the tears soaked into his bandana. Both his Conscience, and Instinct, are clearly in an agreement to what Karasu wants to do… And if they say that even he, himself, can't make her leave him, then he has no right to do or any say in the matter.

"…Is that what you want?" He whispered to the raven/crow-hybrid, who pulled away to stare at his somber face. "You wish to toss away your chance to be free, to live amongst your own kind and live a life of your own choosing… All to live in the sewers, with a bunch of mutated abominations?"

Her Onyx-eyes widened, but it wasn't just shock that made her wide-eyed to his words. She understood what he's asking of her: If she's willing to give up to be free and risk being stuck underground, living with  _them_ ,  ** _forever_**. In her heart, there was no time, not even a second, to answer.

 _ **"I would rather be crippled and fall to my death, than to suffer from the darkness of being left behind by** my  **flock and be reminded of my impure-heritage."**_ She hopped back to his arm that rested on his bent knee, then leaned in to rest her forehead against his.  _ **"I need you, Leo… I love you, Big Brother."**_

Leonardo let out a deep, tiring sigh, allowing more of his tears to stain his bandana, as she forged covenant of loyalty and love to the one who raised her.

_ She made her choice, Leo… What will you do now? _

Silently, he got to his feet and made his way back to the others, who apparently were having a conversation of their own with Splinter. If not for the dark and the faint lighting of the moon, they would've noticed the tear-stains on his mask and learned that he was crying.

Leo faced his sensei, bowing his head to show his respect.

"…She won't leave me," he told the humanoid-rat. "No matter what I do, she refuses to go.  _-As if to prove it, Karasu jumped back to his shoulder and made herself comfortable by laying behind his neck, laying her beak on the top of his plastron.-_  I'm sorry, Master Splinter. I know we agreed to allow her stay, temporarily, but-… She doesn't want to go…! And  _I_  don't want her to, either.  _-Again, he fell to his knees, bowing to the one who raised him.-_ **Watashi o yurushite**  (Forgive me)."

He knew what the penalty of breaking a promise to his sensei will be and Leo was more than willing to endure three days of non-stop training sessions, all if it means that Karasu can stay. Hell, he would even surrender Musashi and Kamiizumi, his own swords, if that will be the price he has to make as payment.

A light thump told him that Splinter dropped to his knees… And a paw rested on his right-shoulder, pulling at his curiosity to stare up at his sensei… A reassuring smile can be seen clearly on his face.

"If she wishes to stay with you, Leonardo, then she may do so." Leo's eyes widen to his words, as Karasu sat up a let out a light chirping sound.

_**"I…! I can stay?!"** _

"…She can?" Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes stared into Ruby/Amber-eyes, no signs of anger, pity or second thoughts in the rat's eyes. "But, the agreement-"

"I never said that she has to leave the instant she can fly, Leonardo. We agreed that you would be carrying for her, and help her earn her place in the sky. You clearly succeeded to your task, my son, but in the end, the decision to leave or stay is her own choice.  _-He smiled at the raven/crow-hybrid, who nuzzled her beak against his and letting out caws of happiness and expression of love.-_ I will admit that we, too, do not wish to see her off. For she is an important member of our clan, just as much as the rest of us."

"Yeah, Dude, we love her just as much as you do! We should also get a say if we should let her go, or not." Michelangelo stated, pouting at his big brother, who slowly got to his feet with the help of Raphael pulling him up.

"And if she's gone, who's going to keep Spike company when I'm not at the Lair and we're off doing patrol?" Raphael asked, wrapping an arm around his twin's shoulders and gently jabbing his fist against Leo's plastron.

The blue-masked turtle let out a low chuckle, touched that his twin and baby brother didn't have a problem of Karasu permanently staying in the Lair. He turned to Donatello.

"Do you have any problems with the decision, Don?" He asked, lightly joking with the genius turtle who didn't look to object on anything.

"Are you kidding? There's so much more research I want to learn about the biological aspects of raven/crow-hybrids. Besides, after she helped us on listening in on Shredder's plans, she would make a great Spy Bird to help us scout the city. Or, at least give me some ideas on how to properly spy on our enemies when she can't remain undetected or suspicious."

To his left, April came up and hugged him, surprising the blue-masked turtle for a moment, before slowly returning the hug back to the redheaded girl. In a joyful mood, Karasu climbed down April's arm to her right-shoulder and started tickling her by lightly scraping her beak against the back of the girl's neck.

"Well, she's definitely a jokester." April giggled, reaching over to pet the bird. The family laughed at the playful bird, before Splinter decided to it was time for them to head back to the Lair, which they all agreed to the thought, from how tired and exhausted they were from their fight at the Worldwide Genome Project.

As the family head for the manhole-cover, Leonardo felt the eyes staring at him from afar distance from the trees. He knew it was Karai, already adapted to how her gaze would make him feel: To be always on edge and the tingling feel to pull his blades out to fight… But, unable to stomach the thought of spilling the blood of his  _friend_ , when she left them to get killed and is his enemy to the Hamato Clan.

He didn't turn to try and figure out where she is, not unless he wants to attract his family's attention to why he stopped and have Hamato Yoshi order them to find the girl the moment he locates the Kunoichi.

 _'What will you do, Karai?'_ He wondered, knowing she can see them heading down into the sewers and can either follow them and find their Lair, tell Shredder which manhole-cover they went down… Or, as he felt the pair of eyes moving, leave them and not make a move on them.

_She'll tell Shredder your last location!_

_'…No… She won't tell.'_ A small-smile spread on his face, as he waited for Donatello to finish scaling down the ladder and began his decent into the sewers, covering their entrance with the manhole-cover.

_How do you figure that she won't tell?_

_'…She told me, herself.'_

_ …When, and how? _

**_Back at building, before She-Pup Karai left Pup and Kins to fight Mix-Breed Kraken. Eyes reflect true emotions and words. Swore to not inform Alpha's Enemy of Pack's whereabouts, using False-Body as cover up._ **

The smile remained on his face, as he slowly followed his family to the Lair.

_'It may not be enough to redeem herself, let alone make it right for leaving us behind… But it's enough, in my own eyes, that she's still worthy enough to be my friend.'_

**TBC**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I'm very angry how they made Leo behave in this episode. Never, and I mean NEVER, does he ever show off in the middle of a fight, just to impress some girl, when he should be focusing on the battle and the wellbeing of his brothers! Also, he's never one to be easily that gullible and should've ignored everything she says to him when they were fighting.
> 
> *: Do Raph, Don and Mikey even follow a certain code, besides the teachings their father taught them to follow? Because, it seems that Leo's the only one who follows a specific code. I mean, the producers never had the show(s) state if the others follow Bushido like Leo does, or any sort of code in that matter. They aren't even trained to also be samurai like he has.
> 
> *: Originally, I was going to having this scene where Leo meets up with Karai in secrecy instead of the flying session, but thought it would be too obvious for Raphael to figure out what Leo was doing and have more misgivings about his brother's motives of her, besides that he, his brothers and Splinter are making sure he doesn't go out in the city, alone.
> 
> *: I mean, seriously, why would a public school have a chandelier in the building in the first place? And why in the entrance of the school, where it could fall on top of them at any moment and get someone hurt?
> 
> *: I can't find myself to have Leo calling it 'Justin'. And that name, it made me laugh the first time Mikey suggested calling it Justin. You would think that he would've first suggested Chimera, before the actual Chimera in "Eyes of the Chimera" when he referred to it as Turducken.
> 
> *: How is it that Leo didn't get shocked, or sustained some form of injury, when the electricity was traveling through his swords? There's no way he would've been able to walk away from that, scot-free.
> 
> Yesterday, was my older-sister's birthday... Sadly, I had to work on that day. Although, hopefully, my mom will get her to come over to celebrate a belated birthday on the weekend, since she doesn't really do much on her birthday and is only off on the weekends.
> 
> R&R


	15. The Missing Piece

**Two Weeks Later; June Tenth...  
** _It's official; Summer is arriving and just around the corner in a week and a half. The heat has risen to scorching temperatures and as a reptilian, I relish in the warm environments. My brothers, on the other hand, don't follow their true anatomy like I have and, like humans, have trouble handling certain heat._

_In other news, April is now on Summer vacation and no longer has to worry about schoolwork for two and a half months. That also means she's free to stay over at the Lair however long she wish to, so long as she informs her aunt to avoid worrying her._

_When she first stayed the night, two weeks ago, I was able to tell that the couch was very uncomfortable and didn't get that much sleep. It's actually a miracle that her reflexes didn't hinder her when Kraang sent a robot to her school to kidnap her. And so, after discussing the living arrangements with Master Splinter and April, when she planned to stay at the Lair for most of her Summer vacation, we decided to let her have my bedroom. So long she doesn't go through my things, I see no reason to not take the couch._

_Mikey tried to talk to me about letting her using his room to sleep in the living room, but Sensei was strictly against his request. The moment he gets to sleep in the living room, he'd be watching TV most of the night away and neglect his sleep patterns. Not only that, but the moment Don hears Mikey trying to offer his bedroom to April, he would step in to offer her his room and the two would get into a fight._

_We all know how much of a pigsty Mikey's room is, especially his uncontrollable instinct to picking up certain object he sees as treasure, which we all agree to not being a healthy environment for her to sleep in. Don, while he would take the bed in his lab, which also functions as a medical room, would not stop gushing that his crush is sleeping in his room and then, everyday, will be acting sweet towards her and come up with ideas on how to get her to like him back. As for Raph… Well, he wouldn't mind her using his bedroom, but his room is his only refuge and sanctuary to calm down and rant out his anger. So, the only logical answer to which room she'll sleep in, is mine._

_Unlike my brothers, I don't really own much possessions. I may have a dresser, but only containing spare masks, small weapons and a few sketches of my drawings. The only other item in my room is just my bed, a nightstand that held a lamp to use when drawing in the dark and, recently, a wall shelf for Karasu to have her own space to sleep in._

_Actually, in some part of the Lair, we added in four wall shelves for Karasu: Two in the far-corners of the Lair, one beside the refrigerator and the far-right corner of the dojo. While she does tend to roost in the tree and sit on top of the fridge, as a bird, it's best for her to get into the habit to remain on high ground. Not only that, but she'll be able to keep an eye on what goes on below her and is good training to spy on her target._

_…I'm very happy, filled with joy, that she's still here. I still feel like I should've pushed her to leave, but I could never bring myself to hurt her any more than I already did, two weeks ago. Since that night, she rarely leaves my side in the Lair. She practically follows me, wherever I go. Even if it was just a trip to the bathroom, she would wait outside of the door for me to come out. She still interacts with the others, which is very relieving to know she isn't ignoring the rest of our pack. She also stays put in the air, whenever we go patrolling, and always greet us when returning from the surface._

_While I'm pleased to see she won't fly off, I've been talking with Donatello about making a special shaft for her to come and go out of the Lair as she pleases. She may had decided to stay with us, but that doesn't me that I should forbid her from going out and to explore the city if she so chooses. That way, she'll still be able to interact with other birds and gain some Independence of her own, while able to comeback if she ran into danger and nobody is able to follow her._

_I wish I could say that these last few weeks was calming or even relaxing… Unfortunately, it wasn't: After the break in to the Worldwide Genome Project, we dealt with five other incidents on separate occasions._ _To start it all off, I'm going to bring up the first problem that happened:_

_The night after the Worldwide Genome Project, while out on patrol, we ran in with a human… Dressed in a rubbery, turtle-suit… **Acting**  like some hero when we found the Purple Dragons breaking into a store, that we later found out belonged to the Kraang, and saw he was nothing but a fat, lazy, unskilled teenager. And what's worse? Raphael, unknowingly and without bothering to check, had his bandana caught in, what Michelangelo dubbed, the Shellraiser's door and… _ _**I** _ _drove ourselves, and the human, back to the Lair. He claimed to have blacked out, which is very possible from how fast we were going and struggle to gain oxygen while holding on for dear life, so that means he won't know the exact location of our den is and can easily drop him off to a random section of the city, without any possibility of him locating us. However, instead of knocking him out and dropping him off to the police to take him home, Donatello suggested that he will keep an eye on him and, hoping to get him to stop his crazy fantasy on becoming a hero, train him on Ninjutsu._

_When Raph, Mikey and I located where the Purple Dragons were taking the stolen items to, we found them working with Baxter Stockman. We even came face-to-face with Xever, still a humanoid-snakehead fish mutant… Only, this time, with robotic legs and some device that, what I figured, helps him be on dry-land by circulating water through his gills. Mikey decided to call him Fishface, which I wasn't certain if that or "Robocarp" were better or worse to be calling Xever by._

_During our fight, he bit Raph and his venom left our brother in a delirious state to require Donnie to help us… Also, to our demise, brought the human with him. The battle ended up having the casing to the Kraang's Power Cell damaged, which will allow the Kraang to track us that, after making an attempt to get to the secret shaft that Donatello invented for the Shellraiser to secretly drive onto the road of the city from the sewers, had us cross paths with them._

_In the end… We lost the Power Cell to the Kraang… And it's all because of that human, for becoming a hostage and making Donatello choose him over the Power Cell. While I'm very proud of my brother for choosing to save a human from getting killed or even be taken and be experimented on by Kraang, I'm very disappointed in him for bringing that human along. If we had dropped him off earlier, then the Shellraiser wouldn't had been attacked and we would still have the Power Cell… A task that Leatherhead, a mutated enhanced alligator mutant that Mikey named, had entrusted us to keep safe from them in his place._

_Three weeks ago, a news reported of a monster in the sewers, after a sewer worker ended up in the hospital from an attack. In fear that news reporters may come down into the sewers and run the risk of finding us, my brothers and I went out in search of the mutant at Tunnel 281. We eventually found him, and saw him fighting a group of Kraang. They were demanding of him to tell them where their Power Cell is and when he refused, they used Kraang-version taser to force him into unconscious. I couldn't stand watching him be treated like some monster and, with Michelangelo at my side, we both attacked the Kraang, no hesitation whatsoever on helping him._

_If Don and Raph thought we were crazy then, they must've thought we lost our minds when bringing him back to the Lair. Even Master Splinter thought we were insane bringing him in, even when he stated that Mikey and I made the right decision to bring him with us, and still had us chain him up. He entrusted us to befriend him, while Raph and Don search for the Power Cell. We were making great progress with Leatherhead, until they showed us the Power Cell and he went full-berserker._

_After Splinter took him down with a few hits and demands he leaves, Mikey and I went after him and, when finding him in an abandon subway cart, learnt how he came to became a ravage, eight foot enhanced alligator mutant: Twenty years ago, he was cared for by a human boy, until his parents discovered Leatherhead's existence and flushed him down in the sewers. A few days later, a small group of Kraang found him and took him to their lab. For over seventeen years, he underwent experimentations until they sent him to their home planet for nearly twenty-seven years, imprisoned and tortured until, six months ago, he escaped and took the Power Cell with him._

_If he's been their prisoner for twenty-seven years in two Earth years, that could mean that the world where Kraang came from, must have faster time periods. That could also mean they have advance technology developments than Earth would be able to develop every few years from weeks to a few months._

_We swore to keep it safe from Kraang and in the end, we allowed Kraang to take it back and use it to allow themselves to bring whatever they want from their world, or go back to their world for certain supplies for what they have planned to do… Which, after infiltrating TCRI and nearly getting roasted alive by a living lava-rock monster, they're trying to take over our world… And, in the process, are after April O'Neil. And the worst part? We lost Leatherhead, whom I call Rip Jaws in the tongue of our animalistic language, when forcing the rock-creature back to whence it came._

_Wherever he is, I hope that he's still_ _alive and will return… My friend…_ _The first mutant, to know of my secret…_ _**Half-** **Brother**  of White Death, himself…_

_Some of us had to deal with demons of our own phobias. Raphael had to deal with two fears: Cockroaches, and becoming a coward. Don's Spy-Roach fell into mutagen, while spying on the Kraang who are threatening to drill into the Earth's crust, and is fused into some cybernetic cockroach-mutant. Or, in Mikey's term, a Cockroach version of a Terminator he calls Spy-Roach. Throughout the entire ordeal at getting the lens, we also had to face the cockroach, who has a huge vendetta towards Raphael for trying to stab it with one of his sais… With Raphael cowering in fear the entire time, not engaging in battle and, above all, running with his tails between his legs._

_He eventually learned to fight his phobia when, after molting and becoming more disturbing, the roach kidnapped Michelangelo. He not only was able to fight the cockroach, but also stop the Kraang from having the city flood in lava. Though, he may claims to have conquer his fear, but clearly still has his phobia of them when Michelangelo lied about putting a cockroach in his shell._

_We also had to work alongside our enemies when Baxter Stockman, for some apparent reason, trapped us with Xever and Bradford in his "Maze of Doom" and tried killing us at the same time. We had to deal with blasters, metal-balls and, most annoying name, "Monster of Doom". Stockman got away and will most likely not be seeing him, anytime soon, but at least we got out, which took us almost the entire night to do so._

_So, yeah, these last few weeks had been hectic... And something tells me, that there's more to come... Because **she**  told me._

_Lately, my dreams had me puzzled. Somebody has been contacting me, and the only person to ever contact me in my sleep... Is Tang Shen, herself._

_When I was little, basically a toddler, she would always come to me in my dreams nearly every night, where she would tell me stories of her past when she was still alive or, when she was just in the mood, would embrace me in her warmth. While in the day, she would watch over us and teach me sign language, to silently make some form of communication without having to speak. Back then, only I could see her. Not even Master Splinter was able to sense her presence._

_...She was the first to accept me for who I am... Sadly, as time goes by and being forced with certain responsibilities, I see her less and less. With each visit she makes, she always tell me to call her "Mother" whenever I call her by her name and to come see her, whenever I need her. In doing so, I would have to go into the Astral Plane in order to meet Tang Shen. I've been doing it since I was five, but the process would always leave me drained and exhausted… For I have to detach my spirit from my body, when entering the Astral Plane and if I were to stay for too long, it would take me days for me to wake up and would feel as if I hadn't slept for an entire week._

_The last time she visited me, was the day of our Mutation Day, after we rescued April from the Kraang... And now, she's been coming into my dreams every few days in the three weeks that passed. She always look so sad, yet her eyes held a glint of hope. She wouldn't tell me what ails her, but all she said was:_ **Fusoku shite iru bubun o mitsukete kudasai**  (Please find the missing piece).

_I don't know what this missing piece Tang Shen wants me to find, but I can tell it's very important to her… Important to **Us**. I can only hope that I'll be able to find it, for both our sakes._

* * *

**Two Miles from TCRI…  
** Leonardo looked through his mini-telescope, keeping eye out for any sign of Kraang activity in the sky. Whether it be Kraangdroids with built-in wings, or some unexplainable device they've never seen before but shows characteristics belonging to the Kraang.

He has already sent Karasu to circle the building, looking for any way she could get in and do some snooping around without attracting their attention or be able to both see, and warn the turtles if they're making a move through the special collar Donatello designed for her. Since she only answers and responds to her big brother, the blue-masked turtle has an identical collar around his neck to be able to talk through to her.

 _ **"I see nothing."**_ She told the leader in blue through the collar, disappointed to not find anything to help out her brothers.

"Nothing happening at TCRI." Leonardo informed, lowering his mini-telescope to let his eyes rest up a bit.

"Yet." Donatello corrected, staring down at his T-Phone in his hand.

"This game is awesome." Michelangelo stated, playing on his T-Phone in order to keep himself occupied and not bother his big brothers. "The combat is so realistic."

Bored, and wanting some action, Raphael went to the youngest turtle.

"You want me to make it more realistic?" He asked, bringing out one of his fists to start beating into the orange-masked turtle.

The blue-masked turtle wasn't going to let that happen.

 _ **"** **Yamero**_ (Stop) _ **."**_ Leo ordered, not wanting to deal with a fight his twin purposely caused that would jeopardize their objective.

"According to the Kraang storage device that I decrypted, some kind of scouting ship is coming through the Kraang portal tonight." Donnie stated, eyes staring up at the TCRI building.

A tickling feeling told Leonardo that somebody else is on the same rooftop with them.

_She sure knows when to show up, at the exact wrong time and place._

"So we all have to  _stay **alert**_. Isn't that right-?"

Immediately, he pushed his body to a sprint towards the water tower, startling his brothers from the sudden burst of speed caused by their big brother, and pulled out Kamiizumi from its scabbard.

_***Clank*** _

Steel contacting with steel was heard, signaling the other turtles to pull out their weapons to whoever dares ease drop on their conversation and not know they were there in the first place.

Leo smirked at the person he locked blades with.

" _Karai…_ "

In the shadow, the sixteen year-old smirked right back at the blue-masked turtle.

"Yeah, you never know what could sneak up on you." She answered, pushing back her attacker until he backflipped off of the water tower and landed back to his brothers, allowing herself to somersault off the water tower and land on even ground with the turtles.

Hoping to catch them off guard, Karai charged for her opponent, who charged right back and when their blades crossed, shifting on opposite direction.

His smirk left his face, replaced with a frown.

"Sorry, Karai, but we don't have time for this.  _-He turned to his brothers.-_ Guys!"

"Booyakasha!" Michelangelo cried out his catchphrase, charging for the Kunoichi alongside Donatello and Raphael. He swiped his nunchuks at her after she blocked Don's swing of his Naginata, which she easily dodged with a simple flip as launching herself off of the purple-masked turtle's shell.

She then laughed.

"'Booyakasha'?! What does that even mean?" She asked, trying to control her laughs from how hilarious, and secretly adorable, the orange-masked turtle just said to use in battle.

"I don't know, but it's fun to yell." The youngest-turtle answered, before whipping out his Kusarigama towards the Kunoichi, who easily caught the end with her Wakizashi and wrapping it around her shoulders. She then planted a firm foot on the chain and, with a strong tug, forced Mikey towards her, kicking him off to the side.

Leonardo immediately came to her left and brought down both of his blades, only to be blocked by her own sword.

"You really know how to make a girl feel welcome." She commented to the blue-masked turtle, before pushing his blades back. "I heard the scrawny one mention the Kraang. What's going on?"

Her question caught Leo's attention.

_'She came all the way here, with no Foot ninjas… Just to know about the Kraang?'_

_Perhaps, whatever she and her clan learned about that Kraangdroid robot, Shredder must've had her be in charge on learning about our enemy._

_'Whatever information he's looking for of the Kraang, we mustn't allow her to give him anything.'_ "None of your business." He told her, charging for her and clashing blades with the girl.

"And I'm not scrawny. I'm svelte." Donatello stated, joining his brother into the fight to strike Karai at her right.

Mikey attacked at the same time with his older-brother, only for the Kunoichi to leap over the second-youngest turtle's head and land behind Leo. Raphael, immediately, ran in to attack, swiping at the air with each attack he missed, before crossing his sais with Karai's Wakizashi.

"Oh, come on." Karai urged, shoving the red-masked turtle away from her. "Let me in on the fun."

Her pasteurizing, finally gotten the best of the second oldest-turtle and, when pushed too far, he finally snaps.

"Look, we're a little busy trying on stop the beginning of an alien invasion here, so do us all a favor and get lost!"

His answer really caught the girl by surprise.

"'An alien invasion'? Are you serious?" She demanded, no longer having any reason to joke and wanting to know what is going on.

Before any of them could say or even make another move to attack, the sound of thunder clashing caught the teenagers' attention to TCRI. There, even from a very far distant, they can see something coming from the roof of the building and floating over the buildings of New York.

 _ **"Leo! Something came out!"**_ Karasu screeched through the collar, clearly scared and unsettling to the floating ship that clearly shows being created by Kraang. The blue-masked turtle, also feeling uncomfortable at the ship and feeling the intense emotions to get his brothers to the Lair, glared at the ship that slowly came their way.

"Find the shaft, Kara." He growled underneath his breath, clenching his fangs together. "Get back to the den, and remain there."

He knows she'll do as he told her, especially when Kraang is involved.

"Um, guys, I think I need to change my shell." Michelangelo stated, which proves to being true when the scent of urine can be detected in the air. None were too concerned of the youngest teenager's 'accident', when the ship slowly came towards them.

_'It's immediately coming our way, barely under half a minute it came out from TCRI.'_

_**Kraang found way to detect Pup and Kins! Run! Retreat for Den!** _

"I hope you have a plan for fighting that thing." Karai stated, not liking the way the eye-ball like ship with tentacles coming their way.

"We can't fight it," he answered. His answer startled both his brothers, and Karai. He shoved his blades back into their scabbards. "We need to run… Now!"

As if on cue, light-purple lightning came from the front of the scout-ship and came crushing down to the building. Immediately, the four teenagers followed the blue-masked turtle's order and all made a run away from the ship. They jumped off to the short-building behind their and, after another shot of lightning came down, scaled down to the alleyway. Once they were on solid ground, the five ran for the streets.

"What the heck is that thing?" Karai asked Leo, both being ahead of the group.

"My guess, it's the Kraang's scout-ship." He answered, focusing on what's in front of him and not to see if the ship is still following them. "Which also shoots lightning at things."

"Yeah, like our shells!" Michelangelo screamed, as light-purple lightning came down and caused parts of the road to crack and fall apart.

Throughout the chaos, Karai ran across the street for another alleyway, while the brothers continued down the road. They turned the corner to their right, finding a black-car parked to the side of the road and the four brothers hid behind the vehicle, a futile attempt to hide from the ship that appears to be scanning for them when magenta-purple lights came out from the front of the scout-ship.

"You think it knows where we are?" Mikey asked Leo, who placed himself at the front of the car while the others hid between the side of the car and the wall of the building.

"In a few moments, it probably will." He answered honestly to the youngest, knowing his gut feeling will be right… And, just as he suspected, the car was removed from the ground. The scout ship using its three tentacles to remove the vehicle to uncover the turtles' hiding spot.

The moment their cover was blown, the three younger-brothers screamed when the car was released to fall on them. Leonardo yanked his brothers to roll out of the way before forcing himself to somersault out of the way.

"We got to get underground." Donatello said, a slight quivering in his voice told the others of his fear to remain above ground with the scout-ship. The blue-masked turtle pulled his swords out.

"I'll draw its fire, you guys get down in the sewers." He told them, not hesitating to run at the scout-ship.

"Wait, Leo! Don't!" Raphael called out, attempting to run for his twin when Donnie held him back.

"There's no time, Raph! We gotta go!" The genius turtle pulled his older-brother to the direction away from their big-brother and the scout-ship, where Michelangelo found a manhole-cover a few blocks up ahead the street.

While that was going on, Leonardo has pretty played his part well by drawing the Kraang's attention away from his brothers, as he dodged the lightning attack from what he compared to belong an eye of some sorts and continues taunting the aliens with each miss they make.

_They're safely in the sewers. Now, wrap this up and get underground._

He already knew what to do to make his own escape. Putting away his swords, Leonardo immediately got on his hands and feet, running on all-fours. He ran for a building in front of him and launched himself on the wall, pushing himself to scale up until he was halfway of the building's surface.

Light-purple lightning shot for him, which he expected to happen and sprang himself off the wall towards them. There, in midair, he pulled out two smoke-bombs from his belt and tossed them at the scout-ship. Blinded by the purple-smoke, stalled them long enough for the leader in blue to skid to another manhole-cover and climb into the sewers.

When the scout-ship's scanner couldn't detect where the turtles had gone to, along with the sound of police sirens coming their way, underneath the manhole-cover and looking through the hole, Leonardo watch as the ship's appearance went static and then vanished before his eyes.

_'Cloaking device. **-He sniffed the air, stunned to not pick up any scent of the scout-ship.-** They're getting smarter on hiding their existence.'_

_ If they can make their ship turn invisible and untraceable, it'll become a nightmare on how they'll figure out the location of the Lair and we may never know when they found out until it's too late. _

Leo growled low from that disturbing thought.

_'Which means, should we ever go back to TCRI… Or, better yet, their world, destroying every information and data of their inventions will be our top priority to prevent such a possibility from ever happening.'_

**_Agree. However, now isn't the time. Pup must return to Kins, and plan on how to take down Scout._ **

He didn't need a second opinion on what he should do at this point. Dropping down to the sewer, the blue-masked turtle immediately made his way for the Lair. As he continued on, part of his mind wondered if Karai has gotten herself to safety from the scout-ship.

_ You shouldn't be concern if she gets caught in the crossfire; as your Clan's mortal enemy, this mean one less threat to worry about. _

_'…I know, but-… She's still my friend, and I can't help but worry for her safety, just as much as my brothers.'_

* * *

**Eleven Thirteen, Back at the Lair…  
** Raphael tossed both his sais at the dummy, both hitting at both side of the chest where the lungs would've been located. Mikey sat on the ledge of the pool, kicking his feet into the water, while watching his older-brother attacks the dummy.

The moment Leonardo returned home, he found all his brothers made it back, with no difficulties whatsoever. Although, he didn't see Donatello and found out that he went into his lab to figure out what to do about the Kraang's scout-ship. The entire time, as they waited for any news for Don's brilliance to help them locate the Kraang's ship, Leo paced himself in a circle inside the living room*.

"That Kraang ship is incredibly dangerous…. We've gotta figure out what it's doing here."  _'And find a way to get rid of it, before it poses a threat to the humans and animals on the streets.'_

"Or we could just skip to the part where we could destroy it." Raphael suggested, twirling his sais in his hands and bringing down the dummy from its hanger to the ground.

Mikey went to bring the dummy up.

"You're pretty tough when they can't hit you back." Feeling challenged, Raph made a fist and acted like he was going to hit his baby-brother, who flinched and hid behind the dummy in his hands. "Ahhh!"

He didn't attack, satisfied on scaring the youngest-turtle.

"So what are we waiting for?" The red-masked turtle questioned his twin, more than ready to go back into battle. "Let's load up the Shellraiser and challenge that thing to a rematch."

Leo came forth to his brother.

"First things first, we need a way to find a ship that's invisible." He reminded, silently informing his bigger-twin to use their brain before rushing into battle.

"I know, how about we shoot into the air until we hit it?" Raphael's suggestion for a plan… Very predictable to the blue-masked turtle.

"Unless you're intending to attract the entire attention of New York, that doesn't sound too smart."

"Yeah, Raph, not too smart." Michelangelo repeated, earning him another fake attempt to getting pummeled. "Ahhh!"

"Actually, Raph got something there." Donatello, coming out from his lab, vouched for his older-brother.

That caught Leo by surprised, while Raph, feeling smug, basked in the glory of his 'brilliant' idea.

"Yeah, Leo, Raph got something there." Mikey copied Don, the dummy still in his hand.

"But instead of shooting objects, we'll shoot waves of electromagnetic radiation. In other words, Radar." The genius turtle explained, pulling out what looks to be a mini radar, made from a strainer. "I've built some radar beacons we can set up around town. If the ship gets near us, I'll get an alarm on my T-Phone."

Leonardo thought about his brother's plan.

_'He said he only made some, but will probably end up making more beacons or strengthen the range detection if we don't get a signal in a few days… It'll also give us a heads up on where it'll end up, before or even during patrol.'_

_ As always, good old Donnie came up with a perfect invention. _

"Good work, Donnie." He praised the purple-masked turtle, before turning to the others. "Come on, guys. Let's split up and place those beacons."

Raphael, disappointed that they won't be shooting anything in the sky, turned to Mikey and brought his fist down on the dummy, forcing the orange-masked turtle to lose his hold on their practice target.

He and Don were the first to head for the Shellraiser, then heard a voice in the living room. Leo held in a groan.

 _'He's talking to the dummy, again.'_ "Mikey!" He called out, hearing a second pair of feet running up to them.

"Loosen your kneepads, Leo!" The youngest replied, being the last to enter their vehicle and getting into his spot as the navigator.

"I would gladly do so, Mikey. In fact, if it were up to me, I wouldn't be wearing any paddings on my limbs to allow better mobility." He commented, starting up the Shellraiser and heading down the tracks for the surface world.  _'If Master Splinter wouldn't had forced us to be wearing them since we were seven, I would probably be lighter.'_

_Lighter, and least protected, should your enemies take advantage on attacking your knees and elbows._

_'Perhaps… But, at least I'd be more connected to my **true**  heritage.'_

* * *

**Twenty Minutes Later...**  
Leonardo has finished setting up the beacon radar in Tribeca, on top of a building across the street from the Fish Market. Don has made eight radar beacons, each turtle getting two to put up in different sections of the city.

While determining which section of the city each turtle will set up, Raphael, once again, suggested he and Leo stick together or at least get the closest area nearby. It irritated the blue-masked turtle and would've probably snapped at his twin for preventing him from going off on his own, if Donatello hadn't refused the red-masked turtle's suggestion and made a reasonable argument that they need to quickly set them up, before the scout-ship, invisible or not, attacks them.

Of course, he relented, but allowed his twin to go, a relief to Leo of him holding up his promise to not shadow him.

"Tribeca Beacon installed." He called out to Donatello, his screen showing a picture of a raven stealing a fisherman's catch it left in the icy waters he chose to represent his genius brother.

_**"That's the last of them. Raph and Mikey finished, too."** _

"That's good to hear," he replied. "See you back at the Lair."

_**"Copy that, Leo."** _

Both brothers hung their T-Phones... Then, Leonardo pulled out his sword and turned to clash blades with Karai, who charged and attempted to attack from behind.

"How you've been, Leo? We really need to stop running in to each other like this." She greeted him with a joke, forcing him back to backflip to the lower roof of the apartment building.

"And you really need to stop skewing me, if all you want to do is talk or waste my patience with these obscured games of yours." He greeted back, though not as happy or cheerful than her greetings was.

Following his lead, she flipped herself off the higher rooftop and landed behind him, locking blades with him when he turned Musashi to her direction. Before she could think up an idea to strike or pull back, Leo forced Musashi to raise higher, startling Karai for her Wakizashi to rise up. He then brought the top-half of his body down and delivered a powerful kick to her midsection with his feet, ramming her against the wall.

She quickly recovered at the same time he charged, running at him and crossing blades with Kamiizumi, before turning and having Wakizashi in-between his crossed swords.

"This is really getting old, Karai." He told her, annoyed of this pointless fight they keep getting themselves involved with and how he's going to get an earful from Raph the longer he's stalled from returning home.

Rather than make some remark of how he's long-due for an appointment with Death, or he's such a boy scout on following curfew and needs to do some more rebellion, she simply smiled at him.

"I wanna help you fight the Kraang." Her response definitely caught Leonardo by surprise.

 _ **"**_ _ **Anata ga yaru**_ (You do) _ **?"**_ He earned a nod from the girl and, slowly, with some hesitation before his eyes roamed the area for any signs of Foot Ninjas, pulled his weapons away from hers. No longer clashing blades, Karai twirled her sword back into its scabbard, not even bother on waiting to see if her opponent would do the same, which he did when hers was fully put away.  _'Is she being serious?'_

_She's probably scheming for you to lower your guard, and bait you into a trap. She also left you and your brothers back at the Worldwide Genome Project, to nearly die from creating Kraken._

**_All true... Yet, why She-Pup Karai put away fang,_ ** _before **Pup did the same? Enemies never sheath fangs, until threat passes or opponent puts away fangs and/or claws first… Give She-Pup chance. Hear out… Though, don't believe until hear reasoning argument.**_

"Right, of course not." He mocked, holding up his hand to list down why he has doubt of her saying what she's saying to be true. "We're both enemies to each other's clan. You left us for death at the Worldwide Genome Project, with a five-mixed mutant  _you_  created and refuse to take responsibility for. And to top it all off: You're loyal to Shredder. Would you like me to keep going?"

She seems to be expecting him to have trouble believing her and has very strong reasons to not immediately take her word, despite that the two had secretly consider themselves some sorts of friends. So, she decides to make her proposition be reasonable to him to consider accepting.

"Look, if the Kraang wins, we don't have a planet anymore." She started, walking up to be face-to-face with the blue-masked turtle. "That makes our little fight seem pretty pointless, doesn't it?"

At some level, that would be true. But, Leo knew that Saki would never allow any excuses to get in the way on killing Hamato Yoshi and his brothers. So, he has to know if Karai is willing to go against her master's orders.

"I doubt Shredder would agree." He told her, getting straight to the point.

"Shredder is stubborn and short-minded. He drives me crazy!" Her honesty intrigued him, taken back to hear the anger in her tone that tells him how much she despises his. "His stupid vendetta is gonna get us  _all_  killed."

The fifteen year-old raised a brow, giving her a clear look that he was trying to make her see since their encounter at the Byerly Building.

_'You don't say. And here I thought everything I say to you is none of your concern, with us having to be enemies and all.'_

"He may not be able to see that, but I know you do." She smiled at him, confident that he would be able to see she's willing to work alongside to take on the aliens. "What do you say? Work together for now?"

She extended her right-hand, waiting for the turtle to do the same and symbolize their alliance to take down Kraang. He stared down at the hand held out to him, then looked up to the girl, staring into her Chocolate/Amber-eyes… His mind flashing back to Splinter, staring back at him, before his mind went to the family picture of Hamato Yoshi with his wife and daughter. His eyes blinked rapidly from the images in his head.

 _'There it is, again.'_ He thought, recalling back to a similar incident that involved Splinter.  _'I stared into his eyes, and my thoughts go to Karai. And now, staring into hers does the same for Sensei… What's going on?'_

_Figure that out, later. Right now, get out of here and head back to the Lair, before Raph or the others decide to come get you and find you with Karai._

_**"…**_ _ **Sumimasen, shisutā**_ (I'm sorry, Sister) _ **."**_  He told her, giving her an apologetic look when she's taken back by his answer. "While I do believe that you want to help us take down Kraang and willing to work with us… I can't give you my consent and answer for my team, to agree to become allies.  _-His eyes formed from a glare to a sad, solemn expression on his face.-_ I gave you a chance to show your worth as a potential ally, back at the Worldwide Genome Project, and you made your decision to turn your back to us... To betray  _me_ , and my trust in you."

Karai had a look of guilt on her face.

"… _ **Hontōni gomen'nasai**_ (I'm really sorry), Leo…" Her apology was sincere, her eyes reflecting true regret for mistreating his kindness he gave her. He nodded his head to her, silently accepting her apology.

"…I know… That's why I trusted you enough to not tell your master that you saw us heading into the sewers, at Central Park. I knew, somehow, that you wouldn't tell Shredder the last place you saw us head in the sewers.  _-He slowly backed away to the ledge.-_ I cannot make any guarantee we'll ally ourselves with you, considering you proved to being a traitor in their eyes… However, what I can promise, is to talk to them and make them see reason to at least consider the option to taking Kraang down, together, once and for all."

It wasn't the answer she wanted to hear, but it was more than enough for her to know at least _he_ will try to make their alliance work, once he gets his brothers to agree with him.

"...Very well," she told him. "When you're ready to accept my offer, you know how to get my attention."

He nodded his head to her and, in unison, the two turned their back and jumped off the opposite ledge of the building from each other, going their separate ways.

* * *

 **Fifteen Minutes Later, in the Dojo..  
** The instant he got back home, he made a beeline for the dojo, knowing Master Splinter is inside. His brothers, confused by his sudden eagerness to see their father, a rarity he doesn't do much often when they were toddlers, followed… There, in the dojo, while April is in the process of perfecting Katas, he told them of his encounter with the Kunoichi Foot Ninja and wanting to fight the Kraang with them.

"I know we shouldn't trust Karai, not after she left us behind at the Worldwide Genome Project." He assured them, all of them kneeling before the fifty year-old father. "But still, I got this sense she's really fed up with Shredder."

"That's probably just what she wants you to think." Raphael suggested, looking rather tired that they're having this conversation about this girl their brother has crossed paths with.

"I know, but-…" Clearly, the three weren't convinced and don't seem to have any reason to believe him. He turned to his sensei, desperation in his eyes. "Sensei, is there any chance she's serious?"  _'If anyone can convince them that she's telling the truth on helping us fight the Kraang, it has to be Sensei… Please, give us the answer we need to hear.'_

"It is possible," the rat replied. "Loyalties have been known to shift… But the  _Kunoichi_  is trained to use deception to her advantage."

The answer to his question was puzzling, and yet, on some line, he understands.

"So, she either will or  _won't_  betray us?" He asked, hoping his brothers listen in carefully on the conversation.

"Correct. You must trust your instincts.  _-He turned, signaling on heading for his room to meditate.-_ But beware the trap of believing something to be true, simply because you wish it to be so."

That made the blue-masked turtle feel offended.

_ He got you there, which  **you**  should know by now to never fall for. _

"So I should trust my instincts, unless my instincts are…  _W_ _rong_?" Putting 'instinct' and 'wrong' together, left a bad taste in Leo's mouth.

"…Correct." Splinter answered, heading into his room, not noticing the disturbed, confused look on his eldest son's face.

**_…Alpha… Doubts Pup…? Doubts own primal voice…? Doubts…_ ** _I **?**_

Even his Instinct, itself, is clearly taken back what Splinter just told the blue-masked turtle to do… Something that he has done all his life, and never once had gone astray or been misguided by his Instinct.

"Whoa. You know it's good advise when you're still confused afterwards." This revelation had Michelangelo smiling, amused by the confusion of his big brother of their father's Words of Wisdom.

"Guys, seriously. An alliance with Karai? No way." Obviously, the red-masked turtle is against it. "Why are we even talking about this?"

"It's too bad we can't trust her," the purple-masked turtle said. "It would be nice to have a Kunoichi on our side."

"Um, hello? What about me?" April butted in to the conversation, a little upset and offended to the genius turtle's words.

"No, I mean a  _real_  Kunoichi." Donatello stated, until realizing his open-minded opinion was degrading the sixteen year-old. "I mean, not that you're not a real one, just that Karai is better.  _-The others stared at him, as he began to panic on correcting himself.-_ I mean, not-not better, just more experienced. Is it- Is it hot in here?"

Leonardo rolled his eyes at the poor excuse his brother picked up.

_'Real smooth, Donnie.'_

"It's okay. I get it." April respond, sounding a bit cheerful to the others but the leader in blue knew she isn't all right with what Don was trying to say. "She's your mortal enemy, but hey, she's 'purty'."

"No, she's not! You're way prettier." Once again, he panicked from his open response to explaining himself. "Not that I think you're pretty. I mean, you're not ugly. It's just that I-"

 _ **"Auh!"**_ Out of nowhere, Karasu came out from her spot in the tree and dived bomb Donatello, pecking him on the head.

"Ow, ow, ow!" The second-youngest cried out, getting to his feet and trying to shield his head from the raven/crow-hybrid's pecking, whose beak easily caused scratches onto his hands. "Leo, get her to stop! Ow! Get her off me!"

Leonardo smiled at the bird.

_'Good girl, Kara. At least that will save him from further embarrassing himself, and making the conversation more awkward than it already is.'_

_That may be true, but she'll have to stop pecking him, eventually. You guys need to head back above ground and see if those beacons are working for any signs of the scout-ship._

_'…True.'_  He placed two fingers to his lips.

_*Pwwweeeet!*_

Karasu, hearing the whistling, ceased her pecking on her older-brother and came to him, taking roost on his left-arm he held up for her.

 _ **"He's giving us a headache on courting Big Sister,"**_ she explained.  _ **"One of these days, he's going to say the wrong thing that'll get him in trouble."**_

He chuckled, stroking her feathers. He then turned to his brothers and April.

"We'll deal on what to do about Karai, later. Right now, we have a ship to track down."

* * *

 **Midnight, in New York…  
** "Guys, I think I found something." Donatello reported, pulling out his T-Phone.

 _'Finally! I was getting tired on driving randomly on the street.'_ Leonardo thought, focusing on the road ahead of them instead of pulling over and getting out of the shellraiser to head for the shadows and fresh air.

"Doesn't match any authorized flight patterns… It's gotta be the Kraang ship."

"Or Santa!" Mikey suggested in a hopeful tone of voice, clearly still believing in the mythical character and hoping Don just proved his favorite holiday mascot is real. Leo took a hard right, finding themselves next to the rundown movie theatre, before slamming the breaks when he saw the floating eyeball-like ship before them. "…Nope, it's the Kraang Ship. Ugh, that's a bummer." The youngest-turtle was disappointed, but none of his older-brothers told him to focus when they waited to see what the ship was going to do.

Rather than wait and see, when seeing a flash of purple pop out, Leonardo took action: He forced the shellraiser to reverse, at the same time the light-purple lightning came down to where they were just parked in, turned the vehicle to face the way they came from, and floored it.

"Raph, cover fire!"

Raphael activated the Garbage Cannon and, whenever lightning comes down and looks like it's gonna hit the Shellraiser, he fires a stink-ball of garbage at it. However, they only have a limited supply of stink-balls and using manhole covers could do more harm than good.

"Move it, Leo!" He told his twin, down to three stink-balls when he used up seven of the ten balls they had in stock. The leader knew they're in major trouble.

 _'We don't have much maneuverability, and we can't let it know where we enter the sewers from.'_ "Hang on to your shells!" He warned, steering the Shellraiser to make a hard left to enter the south-east part of New York and flooring it as fast it can go before turning corners.

"I think I figured out it's mission… Us!" Donatello confirmed, gripping tightly to the panel in front of him the more freaked out he became of the scout-ship gaining on them.

_'Took you that long to figure that out, Donnie? Figures.'_

He passed the entrance to Chinatown, taking a hard-left.

_ You can't keep driving, forever. Either the gas will run out, or it'll lay a hit on the Shellraiser. _

_'I know…!'_ "Mikey, we need an escape route!" Leonardo turned to the orange-masked turtle, hoping that the youngest knows the roads than he does on where to go.

"Take the alley on the right." Leo made a hard-right to where Mikey told him to go… Only to then slam his foot on the break, staring at a wall in front of them.

"…It's a dead end." He informed the youngest, fear gripping his heart when the Kraang ship came up.  _'Don't tell me he read the map wrong.'_

"… _Don't_  take the alley on the right!" He got his answer, resulting him to slamming a fist on the steering-wheel.

 _'Damn it, Mikey! At a time where we can't afford making any mistakes to escape Kraang!'_ He made an attempt to back up, only for light-purple lightning to come down on the vehicle from behind. The Shellraiser acted up, its systems malfunctioning as the electricity flashed and glitches. "Any ideas?" He asked, trying to get the vehicle to respond to his attempt to get out of the alley.

"Just one." Raphael answered, getting out of his seat and going over to Michelangelo, banging his fists against the orange-masked turtle's shell and forcing out cries of pain from Mikey.

While this was going on, Leonardo heard the sound of what he believes to being a motorcycle, coming from… Above? He turned his attention to the screen behind them… And watched, eyes wide, shocked, when seeing Karai jumping off her motorcycle, from the rooftop to their right and driving her Wakizashi into the scout-ship. The instant she dug her blade into the ship, it jerked and shifted, possibly startling the Kraang running the ship inside. As she kept attacking, the ship floating away from the Shellraiser and took off into the sky.

"That was Karai!" Leonardo called out, fear and worry written on his face and heard in his voice.

_ She… Helped? _

**_She-Pup Karai not helped… She-Pup Karai_ ** _saved **Pup and Kins!**_

The vehicle, no longer taking electrical damage, finally responded to Leonardo making it reverse.

"We've gotta go back and help her." He said, pushing the damage Shellraiser to the direction the scout-ship went.

As he drove, a hand rested on his left-shoulder, getting him to look up and see it was Raph.

"She can take care of herself." He stated, silently telling him to ignore the the sixteen year-old. "Let's put some distance between that thing and us."

Leo glared at his twin.

"No, she can't." He argued back. "She saved us, intentionally or not, so we need to help her."

"But, Leo, the Shellraiser's badly damaged." Donatello informed, agreeing with Raph that they shouldn't help the Kunoichi out. "It can't take another hit."

Leo clenched, tightly, onto the wheel in his grasp.

 _'If they want to save themselves, fine! But, I'm not going to ignore that she's sacrificing herself and have her get killed.'_  He unbuckled his strap. "I'll do it myself. Take the wheel." He told Raph, getting out of his seat and ignoring the slight veering until the red-masked turtle took over driving, as he opened the latch where the Stealth Bike is being held. "We'll meet underground."

Raphael didn't look too happy of his twin using the Stealth Bike.

"Hey, the Stealth Bike's  _my_  thing!" He argued, but didn't get out of his spot on driving. Leonardo glared at his twin.

"Well, now your thing is sucking it up." He said, getting inside the motorcycle and closing the door above him.

Once seated, he pushed the red-button over his head and the Stealth Bike is free from the Shellraiser.

_You forgot to put on your helmet!_

_'There's no time for that!'_ He made the motorcycle go into a complete stop, needing to figure out where the scout-ship is... Which, hearing Karai's war cry behind him and watching the ship go straight in front of him, didn't have to look for very long. He revved the bike and forced it to move it.  _'Hang on, Karai. I'm on my way.'_

While the blue-masked turtle head for their location, Karai was struggling to remain on the scout-ship, that threatens to get her off.

"This... Is... So... Not... Fun!" She called out, barely able to keep a tight hold on her Wakizashi when the ship tried to bash itself against the buildings, sideways. As the ship continued to shaking her off, the Kunoichi noticed Leo following them, riding in a black-motorcycle. While hanging on for dear life, she looked down and saw Leonardo following the ship, riding on a motorcycle.  _'Leo!'_ She called out in her head, hope beating in her heart that her friend will help her get off the crazy ride she gotten herself on to.

The ship continued to fly sideways, her grip and sword sliding off until, without warning, it jerked upwards and the Kunoichi found herself thrown in the air, falling for the unforgiving ground that she knew will leave her with injuries that could be threatening to her safety.

Leonardo pushed the Stealth Bike forward to keep up with the girl.

_ Car to your right, use it like a ramp! _

Taking back by his Conscience desperation to save the sixteen year-old just as much as he and his Instinct does, the blue-masked turtle pushed a burst of speed into the bike, forcing the top-half to lift up on the car and shot right off before the parked vehicle let out it's alarm. Time seemed to go slow for the two teens, one wondering if her life will flash before her eyes, and the other praying to catch her on time.

…He caught her. She landed right on top of him, having plenty of space in the front when the blue-masked turtle pulled the seat back. The Stealth Bike landed right back onto the road, a thump making them jerk from the impact.

 _ **"Daijōbudesuka**_ (Are you okay) _ **?"**_ He asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

 _ **"Hai…**_ _ **Anata**_ (You) _ **?"**_ She replied, looking behind her to see the scout-ship righting itself up and following them.

 _ **"Hai."**_ He took a moment to stare at her, seeing the discomfort on her face.  _'Huh. This is a first; not much to say, and no attempts to acting like she didn't need help… Must be in some state of shock.'_

"…I'm not really good at saying thank you…" She told him, before the both of them ducked their heads when the light-purple came down beside the Stealth Bike.

He turned to her, a calm, reassuring look on his face making her feel safe.

 _ **"** **Genkyū shinaide kudasai**_ (Don't mention it) _ **,"**_ He told her. "Hang tight, I'm gonna shake them off our tails."

He pushed a button and a black panel covered them, forming the Stealth Bike into a black-shell. He took a left-turn, floored it straight down the road… Then, cut the gas and forced turn the bike into a shady alleyway beside the dumpster. They both waited silently, Leo turning off the motorcycle, as they watch the Kraang ship fly past them. Both held their breaths, hoping that the scout-ship won't try looking in the alleys or their scanner to pick up any trail they're using to finding the turtles.

…In seconds, the ship took off straight into the sky, heading for TCRI… Leaving the two teenagers, as if they hadn't been chasing them in the first place. When the danger finally passed, a minute later, the Stealth Bike came out of it's Stealth Mode, letting Leonardo and Karai to no longer hide.

The two turned to each other, and smiled... Then, without warning, Karai leaned forward and wrapped her arms around the fifteen year-old. She buried her face into his left-shoulder, a sense of safety she longed and seeked to find when she was younger, only to be denied too many times by her father.

In response, Leo returned the hug, giving her a reassuring pat on the back as a silent devotion to his friend. It was something he adopted on doing since he and his brothers were little, as a display of trust and loyalty to each other and look after each other's shells, which serves as their greatest defense... But also, their greatest weakness, should any serious damage were to come to their shell. His heart, which was pounding in his ears with great terror for the Kunoichi, finally settled and calm, relishing in peace of his sister not seriously wounded from that fall the Kraang purposely caused.

He quickly realized what he just thought.

 _'"Sister"?'_ As he gazed down at the sixteen year-old he held in his arms, the same way he would embrace April, he found that word he used for Karai... Felt right to use for his friend... A friend who's supposed to be his enemy, but can't bring himself to accept.  _'Sensei told me to trust my instincts, and they're telling me that she wants to help us fight the Kraang... And I believe in my Instinct.'_

_...Hate to admit it... But, you're right... You **can**  trust her._

**_While still viewed as Enemy to Pack... Pup wise to accept She-Pup Karai as Ally... Accept,_ ** _embrace **She-Pup as Kin... As Beta-Sister.**_

He pulled away from Karai, who had a confused look on her face to his sudden reaction to pull away, and started up the Stealth Bike. He also had the vehicle go back into it's Stealth Mode before getting back on the road, heading for the direction to the hidden hatch to the abandoned subway tunnels.

"We're are we going?" She asked, having to wrap her arms over his shoulder to stay firm in her spot since she doesn't have a seatbelt of her own.

"To my brothers," he said. "...After what just happened tonight, we need to talk about the Kraang... And how we must ally ourselves, in order to take them down."

* * *

 **Twelve Thirty-Seven, at the Lair...  
** Tonight has really been crazy ride for the turtles: First, they tried taking on the Kraang Ship. Then, Karai came out of nowhere and, inadvertently,  _saved_  them and the Shellraiser. After that, Leo went to save her and, when regrouping with his brothers, brought the girl over and, actually, agreed to become allies.

Of course, Donatello and Raphael tried to find ways to refuse, until the sixteen year-old offered to get them a shoulder-fired missile launcher, while Shredder has business at the docks with a friend of his: Ivan Steranko. Since that will be the only time for her to give them the weapon, without anybody looking or noticing where the weapon will wind up in who's possession, the turtles accepted her offer and the covenant was struck between the two clans.

So now, they have to wait until near-dusk to head for the docks and meet up with Karai.

"Stocked!" Michelangelo lightly cheered, watching Raphael play on the Space Heroes Pinball Machine. "I can't believe we're getting a missile launcher. What should we blow up first?"

Behind the two, Leonardo decided to do some sparring with the dummy. He groaned at his baby-brother's question.

_'And he complained why he couldn't drive the Shellraiser, let alone the Garbage Cannon when not in combat.'_

He double-jabbed the dummy in the stomach, while he continues to listen in on his brothers' openly conversation.

"Uh, the Kraang Ship?" Raphael answered, calmly reminding the orange-masked turtle why they're getting a missile launcher in the first place.

"Oh, right… What should we blow up second?"

The blue-masked turtle decided to get into the conversation.

" _If_  Karai can pull it off." He stated, before delivering two more punches and a powerful kick to the dummy, forcing it off from its hanger.  _'She sounded too confident that no one would be_ _suspicious of her, that she needs to plan carefully on how to give us the missile launcher, without anybody questioning her whereabouts?'_

On the couch, Donatello was reading the newspaper, deciding to do some reading before heading to bed and to work on the Shellraiser in the morning. Wanting to get back at him for sending Karasu to peck him on the head, even though it got him out from the awkward conversation with April, he decided to do what Raph and Mikey keep teasing him about his feelings for the girl.

"Are you worried about your  _girlfriend_?" He lightly mocked, hoping the other two would get in on teasing their big brother. "I see why you guys do that now. It's kind of fun."

None of the younger-brothers took notice of the sudden rage building inside Leonardo. His eyes glared down at his genius brother, daggers of disgust held in his iris'.

_'Did he just…?'_

_Don't even think about it; he was only joking._

_'He dare to accuse me to committing a sin with Karai*?!'_ A low rumble nearly left his throat, his fangs clenched together in an attempt to stay quiet.  _'He think it's funny to make such claims, when he, himself, is taking part of doing a sinful act on attempting to become April's mate?!'_

_He was only **joking**. More likely trying to get back at you guys for always teasing him about his own crush for April._

_'And the best way to do so, is to make such assumptions of his own, **without**  evidence or proof?!  **-He slowly got down on all-fours, readying himself to pounce.-** I'm gonna make sure he learns that assumptions leads to confusion.'_

_Stop! Don't do it!_

**_…Pup is correct. Omega-Brother Donatello acted disrespectful towards own Kin, who is not those who mocked for feelings towards She-Pup April. Damning of all, claims Pup for inappropriate feelings towards Beta-Sister Karai. Kin must learn lesson._ **

With his Instinct in agreement, Leonardo lunged for Donatello, forcing out a startled yelp from the sudden force of what he would compare to a bull ramming him to the ground and found himself staring wide-eyed scared at his brother. The eldest has pinned the genius turtle to the ground on his plastron with his own body, his right-hand forcing Don's own right-arm to twist behind his shell while his left-arm is held against his neck.

Raphael and Michelangelo immediately came to their genius brother's side, both trying to pull Leo off of the svelte turtle but, somehow, the thin-turtle refused to budge.

"Say that, again!" He demanded, slamming Don's head against the floor when he tried shaking his brother off of his shell. "Repeat what you just said!"

"Leo, get the hell off him!" Raphael yelled, trying to pry the hand off of Don's neck.

"Dude, seriously, he was only kidding!" Michelangelo said the same thing his Conscience was telling, attempting to remove Leo by pushing him away.

The blue-masked turtle turned his glare to Mikey, frightening him to pull away.

"He wasn't!" Leo shouted, stunning the three turtles. Never, does the eldest of them, ever raises his voice to the youngest like that. "He meant what he said!  _-He turned back to Don, tightening his grip on the hand he twisted against the purple-masked turtle's shell.-_ If he didn't mean it, he shouldn't had said it in the first place!"

Almost immediately, Donatello knew what he has to do.

"I'm sorry, Leo! I didn't mean it! Honest!" He cried out, wincing when the tightening on his arm increased.

The blue-masked turtle growled lowly at his brother.

"If so, take it back!" He ordered.

"I take it back! I take it back!" Don repeated, which earned him another shove in the head against the floor.

_He took it back! Now, let him go!_

_'Not yet.'_ "Clarify what you're taking back!"

"She's not your girlfriend! She's not your girlfriend!"

The instant he finished, Leonardo got off of Donatello's shell and released his arm, satisfied of his brother's apology.

"Try and pull another stunt like that, again, and I'll make you feel more human than turtle." He growled out his warning to his brother, who immediately nodded his head.

_ You're lucky that Father took April on a practice run. Otherwise, you'd be pinned by his Jade cane sword. _

_'What's even more lucky? They won't be back until the next night. So, hopefully, we'll be back before he and April do.'_ He let out a tiring sigh, feeling the urge to sleep beckoning him to head for his bedroom and sleep in his own bed for the first time in over two weeks. "We better head for bed," he told his brothers. "Since Shredder's going to be there, we're going to need all the energy we can get to pick up the missile launcher and locate the scout-ship."

He was the first of them to head for his bedroom, until he heard Raphael speak up.

"That's right. For once, we know where Shredder's gonna be ahead of time." The way Raph spoke of the realization, made the blue-masked turtle feel dread. "Which means, we coul-"

"Whatever you're going to suggest, best wait until morning." He called out, not wanting to go through another snappy mood if it's involved with his friend/newly appointed sister. "It's late, and we need sleep for tomorrow."

He didn't bother looking to see if they're heading for their bedrooms as he told them to, reaching for his room and heading straight to his bed. April's scent can be detected in the room, which didn't bother him in the least; she made sure to keep his room clean and nothing seemed to be out of place, which shows she took great care of his room and his few belongings.

Karasu went out in the city moments ago, after the four brothers returned to the Lair and asked for his permission, off mingling with other birds to learn what she needs to do to survive in the city. Knowing she'll be back before dawn, the blue-masked turtle wasn't too worried of her going past curfew.

Setting his swords beside his bed and removing his mask and paddings onto the nightstand, Leonardo got underneath the covers and, almost immediately, went to sleep.

* * *

**In the Dream State...  
** _He found himself in his special field he made for himself: fresh-green grass waving with the wind, some flowers and pine-trees off in the distance. A small river nearby the trees, and some smooth rocks to sit upon._

_This, right here, is his Haven. Away from the city, where his enemies resides to hunt and kill him and his pack. Far from the responsibility that's been put on his shoulders to carry since he was four... This is freedom he's been searching for, all his life._

_...However, there's a presence that dares to come into his Haven, without his consent or knowledge... Which, when he turned to see who the intruder was, saw the very person he has allowed to come to him, in his dreams or even reach out from the Astral Plane: Tang Shen._

_She woman stood in her spot, smiling lovingly at the fifteen year-old humanoid-wolf/turtle who was thirty feet away from her._

_"Leonardo..." She softly spoke, opening her arms for him to run into._

_…Which the turtle didn't do; only walk towards the twenty-eight year-old woman and, when he stood a few feet from her, got down on his knees, bowing before her._

_"Tang Shen," he greeted back. She let out a soft sigh, clearly disappointed that he didn't run into her embrace like she wanted him to, before kneeling with him._

_"I'm never going to get you to call me 'Mother' and not use my name every time we see each other, am I?" She asked, placing a hand underneath his chin to lift his gaze to stare into her deep-chocolate eyes._

**"Sumimasen, Okāsan**  (I'm sorry, Mother)." _He apologized. "But, as you know…"_

_Tang Shen let out a light giggle._

_"Yes, I know. An act of respect in both, our tradition, and your wolf heritage. **-She leaned in and wrapped her arms around her 'son', her smile grew when he slowly returned the embrace.-**  I am so relieved, that you and your brothers made it home, unharmed." She pulled away, but still kept her arms around the fifteen year-old. Her smiled disappeared, replaced with a serious look of concern. "You are meeting up with Karai tomorrow at the docks."_

_Leonardo nodded his head._

_"That's the plan," he answered. "I just hope she won't get caught. If Shredder learns of her allying herself with us to stop Kraang, I fear what he'll do to her for treason."_

_Tang Shen ran a thumb gently over his right-cheek._

_"You care about her, just as much you do for your brothers." He knew it was a statement, and not a question._

_"As if she's my sister," he said. "I know neither she nor April will ever replace Miwa, but that won't stop me from viewing others as kins."_

_The woman grasped for both of his hands into her own smaller-hands, pulling them up to rest underneath her chin to have him remain focus to her face._

_"..._ **Musuko** _, you must tell her how you view her." Tang Shen's advice caught the teen by surprise._

'She sounded a bit desperate for me to tell Karai... Something must be up.' _"Is there some sort of importancy on doing so?"_

_She bowed her head._

_"You know I cannot give you all the answers to the objectives you and your brothers will be facing, my son." She reminded, a sad expression on her face sending him or apology. "As for your question, I'm afraid you're gonna have to figure that out, yourself."_

_He wasn't too disappointed of the answer she gave him, but there was still a nagging feeling that she knows something bad is going to happen._

_"Very well... But, will you be able to tell me if there may be a great threat coming? Because, I feel you didn't come to my dreams just to tell me about revealing my kinship to Karai."_

_Tang Shen smiled at her humanoid-wolf/turtle son, before leaning in and laying a light kiss on his forehead._

_"My clever turtle," she commented. "Once again, you know that I cannot reveal what may or may not happen in the future... But, yes. I fear there will be a great evil that'll come, not just for our family, but everyone and the Earth, herself. **-Her gaze became very serious-**  You've been having certain visions lately, have you not?"_

_"Sometimes," he answered. "Just a few glimpses that would randomly pop up, from time to time. They wouldn't be long, but I would somehow know if they're warning signs or just parts for my dreams."_

_She nodded her head to his explanation, approving his answer to her question._

_"You are wise to trust your intuitive, Leonardo." Her words may have brought joy to his heart, but brought up a painful memory of Splinter telling him that his instincts can be wrong._

_"At least **somebody**  trusts me on what my instincts tells me." He scoffed, earning him a deep sigh from the woman who appointed herself as his and his brothers' mother._

_"I know what your father said was out of line, but he wasn't being directive towards your Instinct or saying it will be wrong." He didn't looked convinced and looked a bit uncomfortable on bringing up the humanoid-rat he's now related to by blood, even if it's by one-fourth. "And don't think that I didn't hear what you said two and a half weeks ago, of you not being his son."_

_Yep, he should've known she would get to him about that, even though he already apologized for ever thinking such thoughts._

_"It's kinda hard to see myself being treated fairly alongside my brothers, when I had been treated differently than they have since we were younglings." He explained, lowering his head to stare at his hands clenching into the grass. "Having to give up my chance to get a childhood my brothers get to experience and always watching how they're free of the burdens I'm forced to uphold, makes me question if he even sees me as his son… Or maybe as some weapon, built and made to protect the clan, until they learned of my impure genetics and toss me aside."_

_She gave him a heartbroken look and, once again, pulled him into a hug, resting his head on her left-shoulder._

_"My poor, sweet Kame." She whispered, slightly rocking the both of them and resting her head on top of her son's. "I must admit, I was deeply saddened and even angry at your father for starting your training when you were only four, when he should've allowed you to grow with your brothers and start you all on equal ground." Tang Shen slightly pulled away, keeping her arms around Leonardo, waiting for him to lift his head up and stare into her deep-chocolate eyes. "You have every right to feel hurt and angry of the treatment you had to endure that didn't justify your genetics, opinions or even feelings your brothers and father don't even know about… But, always remember, fully blood related or even partial related, they're your family… Your **Pack**."_

_"…And when they find out of my wolf-blood, will they still see me as they expect me to be?" He asked, not directly questioning to know what their reactions are going to be when that day comes._

_"That'll be up to them… And **you** , to decide what happens, there and then.  **-She leaned forward, laying another kiss on his forehead.-** Whether it's to remain close by, and continue to watch over them… Or search for the freedom you've longed for."_

_Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes widened to her words, taken back by her words. The way she just calmly told him, it didn't sound like much of a big deal. As if he chooses to leave his pack for his freedom, she wouldn't be upset of his decision._

'…She's okay with it?' _He pondered, staring into her eyes and seeing the answer to his question._

_…Yes, she would be completely fine, if he so chooses to leave. She'd be supportive of his decision, for he would leave should the Clan renounce their claim on him or has completed his end of the bargain by eliminating the danger that threatens the Hamato Clan._

_He looked over the horizon where the mountains were to his left, watching the sun lower and the moon rising in its place. He knew that once its light shines down on him, he'll wake up and Tang Shen will be gone._ _She knows the drill is coming as well, having to go through it many times in the past when visiting him. And every time, she's always sad to be forcefully separated from her 'son'._

_Knowing it's time to wrap up their little reunion, Leonardo leaned up and landed a kiss on his 'mother's' forehead._

**"Watashi wa yakusoku o mamorimasu, Haha** (I will keep my promises, Mother) **."** He vowed, feeling the moon's light slowly embrace him.

For the third time, Tang Shen returned his farewell gesture by laying a third kiss on his forehead.

 **"** **Watashi no kotoba o oboete iru, watashi no musuko... Soshite, kesshite wasurenai: Watashi wa anata o aishiteimasu...**   **Anata no tame ni** (Remember my words, my son… And never forget: I love you… For  _you_ ) **."**

_The moon's light completely surrounded them and, in unison, the two were gone: One returning to the Astral Plane, in Heaven. And the other returning to his Conscious World… Where great pain and sorrow will befallen onto the humanoid-wolf/turtle._

* * *

**Hours Later, Mid-Afternoon…  
** Throughout most of the day, Leonardo focused on meditating in the dojo. It always help calm his nerves and keep his mind focus on what he needs to do.

He sent Karasu to go back to the surface and head for the docks. According to her findings, there are many shipping containers that are being unused and empty. While there are a lot of workers moving about in the day time, with Summer being their busiest time of year, the docks are always empty and left unguarded at around seven.

This information reassured the turtle that if they all played their cards right, Karai will give them the missile launcher and they can leave the area, long before Shredder or even the Kraang's scout-ship discovered any turtles were there. And once they face the ship for a third encounter and actually take it down, their alliance with the Kunoichi will surely prove herself worthy to his brothers and together, take on the Kraang and whatever invasion plans they try to come up.

However, something in the back of his mind told him that his hopes for that will not be coming true. For a glimpse of an imagery should him at the docks with Karai, the Kraang's ship heading for them... And his heart feeling hurt, and  _betrayed_.

_ So... Are you going to tell her? _

Leo reopened his eyes, slowly stretching his limbs to rid away the kinks and drowsiness from sitting for a long time. Ever since witnessing Karai risking her own life for him and his brothers, his Conscience no longer viewed her as conniving or a potential threat. While he knows there will come a time where she'll have to be his enemy when she's not alone, it no longer believe she's an enemy.

...And, for the very first time, doubted Splinter's wisdom, that the blue-masked turtle shouldn't believe the possibility of Karai ever being an ally and is forever an enemy to the Hamato Clan.

He let out a sigh.

_'I told mother that I will, and I am going to tell Karai how I feel for her... I just fear her loyalty to Shredder will prevent her from accepting both, my friendship, and kinship.'_

**_Pup is right to worry of outcome. While loyalties do tend to shift, loyalty and devotion to Alpha is not easy to break. Beta-Sister Karai will remain loyal to Enemy... But, if Kinship-Bond between Pup and Beta-Sister Karai prove to be strong, Beta-Sister Karai will accept, embrace Pup as own Kin._ **

"Finally. You finished meditating?" Raphael interrupted the conversation between his older-twin and his Conscience and Instinct, entering the dojo and standing before his brother. "We're just about ready to head out... So, what's going to be the plan?"

While Leo has thought up of an idea how to remain out of Shredder's sights and be close in his area, he knows for certain that they already talked about what they're going to do after they get the weapon.

"Raph, you already know what the plan is," he answered. "Once we get the missile launcher, we head back to the Lair and wait until we get another distress signal from Don's beacons and, while remaining out of it's sights, we use the missile launcher to bring it down."  _'I expected Mikey to have trouble remembering the plan to the mission, but Raph? That's a bit disturbing, and worrisome.'_

_Maybe he didn't get much sleep last night?_

_'Perhaps; they did leave for bed a bit later after I did.'_

"Yeah, I know  _that_  plan." Raphael replied, a little annoyed and slightly offended that Leo would think he had memory problems like Mikey. "I'm talking about the plan on how to take out Shredder, once and for all."

Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes widened. The blue-masked turtle is completely speechless, while his taller-twin patiently waited to hear the answer to his question.

_'He… He can't be serious about this.'_

_ Looks like he is… And that must've been why he and the others went to bed later, last night. _

Just as he was shocked for, he was also angered from his conclusion.

_'They decided, after hearing the fact of Shredder being there, to talk about hatching a plan to trap him, **after**  we just made a deal with Karai…'_

**_Kins chose to discuss, behind Pup's hide, if all in agreement. Then, Beta-Brother Raphael attempts to drag Pup to what Kins, themselves, decided on…_ ** _Without **approval from Pup?!**_

His eyes narrowed, glaring into Raph's Emerald-green eyes.

"Who said we were going to take out the Shredder?" He replied, which stunned the hotheaded turtle. "We made a deal with Karai. So, we're not going to go behind her back."

He went for the shoji door and, as he exited the dojo, he knew his twin will come after him, blinded by rage… Moments later, his prediction came true.

"You mean we're not going to do it?!"

Raph's yelling attracted Donatello and Michelangelo's attention from the kitchen, both of which came running out to the living room and seeing the two brothers glaring at each other. Karasu, startled awake from her nap in the living room, remained in her spot. Should her older-brother attempts to attack Leo, she'll immediately intervene the best way she can, with or without her big brother's consent.

Unfazed by Raph's temper, Leonardo calmly repeated his answer.

"It's just as I said. We're  _not_  going to attack Shredder, while we're in an alliance with Karai, when are main mission and focus is getting that missile launcher to take out the Kraang's scout-ship. They want to take us out, at this very moment. Shredder and the Foot Clan will have to wait, for another time."

Seething can be heard in the deep breathing the red-masked turtle was making, warning the others he's already losing his control over his rage. Nevertheless, that didn't face the leader in blue to stop talking. The two youngest turtle, who remained behind the couch, were also stunned to hear what the leader in blue just said to them.

"Uh, Leo, Shredder also wants to take us out, and not take us out for pizza." Mikey gently, but too honestly, reminded.

"Not only that, but this may be our only chance to take him by surprise for, who knows how long." Donnie added in, who was trying to not be caught in the middle on choosing sides between his oldest brothers.

Raphael stepped up to his shorter-twin, inwardly trying to push back his rage when it's already reaching his limit.

"Seriously, Leo, are we  _really_ going to pass this up?"

Once again, Leonardo knew his leadership is being challenged by his larger-twin. However, this time, they're not only questioning his judgement, as he expects them to, but also his loyalty to the clan… Loyalty to  _them_ , his  ** _brothers_**. And he knows that, whatever he answers them with, will lead him to an unknown fate that leads him to mortal danger from his enemies…  _And_ , his own  ** _Pack_**.

* * *

 **Seven, at the Docks** **…**  
The meeting has finally started. The seagulls were calling out, circling the docks that's below them, in search for food and curiosity on what the humans and the strange mutated-humanoid/animals.

Joining the small flock of birds, a smaller black-bird joined them, keeping complete focus of the Shredder and another adult-human who wore mostly black with a soviet military surplus Ushanka. Eyeing the hat, along with hearing the accent he spoke in, told the bird that he's Russian, along with meeting a few birds that spoke in the similar speech and hearing Leonardo speaking Russian with some of the animals.

And speaking of Leonardo, who remained in the shadows of the shipping containments about a yard away from the Foot Clan, silently watch the exchange slowly play before him…  _Alone_. His brothers, nowhere in sight, or anywhere nearby the meeting, let alone anywhere on the docks.

_ They'll hate you for what you've done to them. Probably label you as a traitor to the team… To the  **Clan**. _

_'…I know… Which isn't really much of a surprise, considering how much they keep vocalizing they despise me in the past. Besides, they can't do anything to interfere, when they'll be temporarily paralyzed for another hour.'_

As he watches Karai head for the shipments, checking them over before taking them, one-by-one, to the other side of the shipping containment nearby his hiding area, something pulsed in the back of his head. It felt like a light-throb of a headache, but directly at his temple. He winced from the pressure building in his head, as his hearing caught the faint sound of footsteps from the another shipping containment, across from where the meeting is taking place.

 _ **"Auh, aaauuh!"**_ Karasu let out a distress call to her humanoid-wolf/turtle brother, her words bringing the most terrible report that he didn't want to here.  _ **"Leo, they're here! Our brothers are here!"**_

There was a gap large enough for him to go through in the shadows and when he went through it, saw what confirms Karasu's report being true: Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo on top of a red shipping containment, partially hidden from sight behind a white shipping containment, both of the older-turtles holding to both sides of a enlarge, makeshift slingshot launcher… The youngest aiming a sphered object in the launcher, which was making a very discomforting sound of electricity… Aiming it for  _Shredder_.

His eyes widened.

_'No! They'll ruin everything!'_

He immediately ran through the gap to the front, eyes spotted on to Karai, who pulled out one of the missile launchers from the case.

_ While I would argue for you to let them hit him, they picked the wrong time to attack, when you guys need that missile to take down the scout-ship and probably don't have a back up plan to avoid confrontation with the Foot and that Russian General! _

_'Agreed!'_

He put a hand over his beak and released a screech call that sounded like a Eurasian Jay.

_*Eeeaaauh! Eeeaaauh! Eeeaauh, eeeeaauuhh!*_

The call, while completely ignored by Shredder, Ivan, the Foot and the turtles, Karai looked up to the call and, when seeing the call was being made by the turtle, saw him silently pointing for her to look at. She went around the shipping containment, stunned to see the three other turtles aiming a metal-ball to where Shredder and Ivan Steranko are at and, just as they released the weapon, quickly ran to her father and pushed him aside from the attack.

The ball missed and ended up shocking Ivan and two other Foot ninjas, shocking them to unconsciousness. Once her father was fine, Karai immediately grabbed for one of the missile launchers and fired it at the three turtles, all three of them jumped off just in time for the missile to explode from impacting with one of the shipping containments, but the impact from the blast forced them to land roughly to the ground.

Still remaining in the shadows of his hiding spot, Leonardo glared at his brothers.

**_Will Pup aid Kins?_ **

He snarled at the question.

_'They decided to cause mutiny, so they'll have to get themselves out of this mess. Besides **-** **turned to Karasu, who was calling out in distress with the other seagulls from the blast of the missile, and seeing the Kraang's scout-ship appearing out from nowhere.-** I need to take care of damage here first, before I help them with the Kraang's ship.'_

Once again, he made the call of the Eurasian Jay, calling out to the raven/crow-hybrid and the seagulls.

_*Eeeaaauh, eeeauh eeeauh! Eeeaaauh! Eeeaauh, eeeeaauuhh! Eeeeaauh eeaauh eeauh, eeeeaauuh!* **"Karasu, go back to the Den! Return home, now! Sea Wings, go! Away from here, away from Shiny-Metal!"**_

Immediately, all of the birds heeded his words and took off, Karasu hesitating for a moment before she obeyed and flew straight for her secret hatch for the Lair. At the same time, his brothers took off running through a Labyrinth-made maze, with Shredder stalking them like a predator hunting for it's prey.

He let out a sigh of relief, before the rushing sound of wind told him to pull out Musashi and block a blade attack from Karai. She forced him back through the gap, then sliced the air, missing when then turtle backflipped off the shipping containment and landed on the ground.

"What's the big idea, Leo?!" The Kunoichi yelled, landing on solid ground with him, her Wakizashi remained out. "We had a deal! I thought you were my friend! I thought you were better than this!"

The blue-masked turtle wasn't going to have the blame be put on him, when his brothers' were the ones to blame... And he wasn't going to take the fall for them, this time.

"I am not in any part of this, Karai." He growled out, clenching tightly to his blade. "As I told you earlier, they were left behind to stay put at our home... Because  _they_  refuse to keep the covenant of loyalty, that honor demands they keep, for allying ourselves with you."

She still glared at him, her weapon still gripped in her left-hand, but made no move to attack.

"If what you're telling me is true, how do I know you're not lying to me?" She asked, a small glint in her Chocolate/Amber-eyes hoping he'd proves to still be her friend as she claimed him to be.

"If I were trying to trick you, why would I foil my team, my own  _ **brothers** ' _plan by signaling you where they were hiding,  _before_  they fired an attack towards Shredder?  _-Her eyes widened to his question that answered her own. While her attention remains on him, he slowly put his sword away, stunning her even more.-_  You called me your friend... Would a friend, a  _true_  friend, who would go behind his own clan's back to keep a secret friendship with somebody who's supposed to be my enemy, throw away that trust you give them when offering us to take on the Kraang?"

Slowly, she also lowered her blade, seeing his logic to be true, even if she seems to be fighting with herself if he was making up excuses to cover himself.

_ Her loyalty to Oroku Saki is strong, it won't let her fully believe what you're saying to be true. _

He had a feeling that was going to happen, so he decided to be truthful to what occurred earlier.

"I'm going to tell you straight, Karai." He gently warned. "The instant they realized he would be here, my brothers wanted to use this moment to set a trap for Shredder and finally take him down, once and for all... They asked me what the plan was going to be. _-Her eyes widened, but he continued to explain himself.-_ I, too, wanted to take him down, but we made a pact and I chose to respect our alliance by forbidding any confrontation with Shredder."

Karai turned her gaze away from Leo, processing what she's been told and finding no lie in the least in his voice.

"So, the reason they were left behind..." She whispered, earning a firm nod from Leo.

"Is because I benched them from the mission, for deciding to ignore Bushido, a code they  _never_  followed by, and rebel to attack your master, with or without me leading them... And so, I used pressure points to knock them out and temporarily paralyze them for about five to six hours.  _-He turn his own gaze to the fire that was caused by the missile launcher.-_ Though, somehow, they were able to free themselves from the effects and track down my location, when I kept my T-Phone off the entire time."

His confession truly was something to the sixteen year-old teenager. Never, not once, did she expected somebody, besides Shinigami, to willingly go through whatever means necessary to keep their sworn oath to remain as her ally... Even when that person is to be her enemy. But, in her eyes, Leonardo is not an enemy in her eyes... Even if her own father were to tell her, otherwise, she will never turn her back to the one she calls 'her friend'... Somebody, she would even call as her own family.

_'Last night, he called me 'Sister'... I hope that means he, also, felt the connection between us.'_

"Unfortunately," his voice brought her back to reality. "While I understand he's your master, what I don't get is why you keep defending him. You've said so, yourself, that he drives you crazy and is self-obsessed with his vendetta. So, why do you protect him, if you clearly show signs that you hate him?"

Part of her didn't want to answer the question, fearing that he would have more than enough reason to turn his back on her and renounce her as an ally and friends. However, he displayed such loyalty to her, to even reveal his own brothers' location to allow her to save her father from the trap, that she knew she at least owes him an explanation of her relationship between her and the Shredder.

"He is, and will have us all killed if he doesn't see the truth before him that the world isn't revolved around him... But, the reason he drives me crazy, is because... He's my  _father_."

In unison, Leonardo, his Conscience and Instinct were blown away from what she just said to him.

**_SHE'S HIS_ ** _ DAUGHTER?! _

"...Shredder... Is your  _father_?" He replied, his eyes widened. "You're Oroku Saki's... Daughter?"

His brain tried to process what he's been told… And, frankly, it didn't sank through: Not only does it sounded wrong, but it didn't feel right, either.

 _'That can't be right,'_  he thought.  _'There's no way that Shredder, Oroku Saki, would have a child with anybody, when he's obsessed with Tang Shen!'_

_And the way she referred to him as her father, it sounds like she claims to be blood, which also strengthens how ridiculously impossible that sounds!_

**_Beta-Sister Karai around same age as Upsilon-Sister April**, meaning was around time before betrayal to Hamato Pack as possible newborn Pup._ **

_'Meaning, unless he's taken in a mistress in_ _secrecy as an attempt to having his **own**  Tang Shen if he couldn't have the actual Tang Shen, Master Splinter must've forgotten to tell us that he has a niece and we, also, had a cousin!'_

_That, or perhaps she was adopted after Father left Japan and he never told her he isn't her blood-father._

_'Yeah, or maybe he kidnapped her and li-!'_

…His heart felt like stone, his mind going blank and the air froze in his lungs. His Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes stared into her Chocolate/Amber-eyes, both showing inner fear of what their friend was going to say after she revealed herself as Oroku Saki's daughter… Which, the fifteen year-old turtle knew, that is very false. But, before he could be certain, there was one question she has to answer him.

"What's your mother's name?" He asked, part of him hoping to hear what he wanted to hear for the answer and another part of himself dreading to know a darker truth Saki has done.

"…Tang Shen," she answered. "My mother was Tang Shen…" The way she pronounced 'was', told him that she carries her mother's death very heavily. "…And, as you should know, she's dead…  _Murdered_ by your master:  _ **Hamato Yoshi**_."

Hearing her name the killer of her mother by her-…  _Their_  human-father, confirmed Leonardo's greatest fears… And his hatred towards Oroku Saki grew more than he felt towards the man who was supposed to be his uncle.

_**Beta-Sister Karai not true name… Beta-Sister Karai true name, Beta-Sister Miwa… Lost-Kin,** alive **!**_

_ …All this time… She's been raised by Oroku Saki… She's been raised to believe, been  **lied**  to, that Father killed Mother…! That she's  **his**  child! _

His fangs clenched together, struggling to control his ragged breathing that rose.

 _'That lying, murderous, **Kemono**_ (Beast) _ **!**_ _'_

He wanted to scream, to roar, to let out a howl that would let all know his demanding for justice that's been stolen from his sensei… And to his older half-sister. His Instinct and Conscience are more in an agreement that the instant he sees Shredder, even by hearing his voice or picking up his scent, the blue-masked turtle was going to let loose and spill his blood by both of his fangs, his swords and his own fangs.

But right now, more than anything, he wanted to embrace the sister he thought was wrongfully taken from him and tell her that everything she's been told was a complete lie. But most of all, reveal who her true father is and that they are blood.

_ You can't tell her… Not now… It isn't the right time, or moment, to reveal the truth to her. _

Leonardo knew his Conscience is right; he's the only one who knows her true identity, but doesn't have evidence with him to convince her to the conclusion of his discovery. Not only that, he fears she would try taking matters into her own hands and end up becoming the victim to the man who raised her as his own, be used as bait to lure them and Master Splinter from hiding to an obvious trap to eliminate them, once and for all.

So, until he knows they're better trained and well prepared to fight Shredder, and has the evidence to show Kar-…  _Miwa_  that she's a daughter to an honorable man, the secret shall remain with the turtle and hidden to the girl. However, knowing that the bond he feels for her is very relieving and wants the Kunoichi to know, despite  _their_ brothers' betrayal and dishonorable attempt to go behind their backs, that she still has a friend amongst her true clan.

"Karai." He started, forcing a light gasp to escape, as he slowly took a step towards her. "You've revealed yourself as the Shredder's, Oroku Saki's daughter, to an enemy amongst the Foot Clan. And yet, had decided to ally yourself with your...  _Father's_  greatest threat, when you saw, yourself, a greater threat that makes our battle with each other insignificantly pointless and unimportant  _-He made a few more steps towards her, his eyes remaining on her... Finally seeing both Hamato Yoshi, and Tang Shen's eyes reflecting off of her mixed colors of the two, perfectly.-_ You once confirmed with me that we're enemies and, by both of our clans, we  _must_  become enemies... But now, that's changed.  _-The moment he stood before her, almost being eyes-level with each other as he's half a foot taller than her, he reached out and took her hand that held Wakizashi into his own, gently gripping the small-hand in his.-_ For I see, not an enemy, but one I call my friend... Someone, I wish to call...  ** _Watashi no ane_** (My sister)."

She caught on to every word he just said to her... And every part of her, mind and soul, was in complete joy to hear he accepts her as both, a friend... But most of all, a sister. There was no lie in his voice, or mischievous intentions in his Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes to make her self-doubt putting her trust into the one person, the one  _turtle_ , in all of New York.

She lightly chuckled.

"You're a fool," she commented. "...But then, I guess we both are."

While this was going on, the Kraang's scout-ship caught the two teens in it's sights and sent lightning down on them. The two immediately pulled apart to dodge the attack, ducking to avoid the ship from making a grab for them with it's tentacles when it lifted itself back to the sky.

The blue-masked turtle snarled at the scout-ship, but turning to his sister.

"We gotta take that ship out." Leonardo stated, earning a firm nod from the girl.

"Are deal still stands, Leo." She informed, heading for the case to bring out another rocket-shoulder missile launcher and putting away her Wakizashi. "But, just so you know, my alliance with your brothers is over.  _-She handed off the missile to the blue-masked turtle.-_ Once that thing is taken down, I'm coming for them... But you,  _ **Ani**_ (Brother), I will keep as my  _only_  ally in the city."

He took the missile launcher in both of his hands, carefully strapping it against his shell, before nodding his head.

"I understand," he replied. "Just as you'll understand that I'll do what I must to keep them safe, but we'll figure that out, later, after we've delt with the scout-ship."

Immediately, the two went to the highest peek of the docks, on top of the highest shipping containment stacked. There, Karai helped Leo set up the missile launcher and show him what to do to use it.

"Think you can draw it's attention away from me for a moment?" He asked the Kunoichi, as they both laid their backs against the side to hide in the shadows. "I need to fire it, the moment it leaves itself open by flying up in the air."

She smirked at his request.

"After nearly falling to my death last night, I think some payback is an order." Pulling out Wakizashi, she ran to the ledge and launched herself in the air, jumping on top of the scout-ship and attempting to jab her blade through the metal. "This is for almost turning me into roadkill!"

While she continues striking, Leonardo readied himself into position. The weight of the missile launcher, while a little irritated to rest against his shell, wasn't too much of an issue.

The Kraang's scout-ship, like before, attempted to shake her off, which she predicted would happen and jumped off, regaining it's attention to follow her. She looked up to her friend and, seeing him giving her a thumbs up, returned the signal. She almost got hit by the lightning, but her fast reflexes helped her dodge and had for the gap between the shipping containments.

With the girl gone and about to hit the containments, the scout-ship forced itself up. That was the opportunity for Leo to pull the trigger and fire the missile. Immediately, it shot straight for the Kraang's ship and before it could try to move, made a direct hit.

The Scout-ship hovered for a moment, before if went straight down for the docks.

While heading down, Shredder and the three Hamato Brothers were exactly in it's path and the moment he turned to see what was coming towards them... Shredder got hit and went flying into the waters, the Kraang's ship following soon after.

Karai, who went back to stand beside Leonardo, was immediately devastated over Saki's well being.

"Father!" She called out and started making a run for the docks, before turning back to Leo and, to his surprise, placed his T-Phone into how hand. "Contact me when you can, or if you need somebody to talk to."

After that, she jumped off the shipping containments, ran down the dock and dived in the water.

Though he'd rather wait and see her come out of the water, even go in after her to not risk her life for the man who's the true murderer of Tang Shen, Leonardo knew he needs to leave the area before the cops come to investigate the disturbance. He glanced down at his T-Phone, a proud smirk spread on his face.

_'Must've snagged it, after I convinced my kinship with her... She's definitely a Hamato.'_

His happiness was soon short-lived when he caught the sound of three pairs of feet coming up to him, which his smirk soon turned to a snarl when turning his head to stare at how brothers.

Donatello and Michelangelo were frightened at the anger their big brother had on his face, Raphael also feeling on edge but pushing his fear aside to glare back.

Leo released the launcher and pointed a finger towards the city, the direction to their home.

" _Lair... **NOW!** " _He screamed, not caring if all of New York heard him or not. Immediately, the two youngest made a run for the direction. Raphael, taken back by the command, hesitated for a moment before following Don and Mikey's lead.

Before he went to follow his brothers, Leonardo turned to see where Karai has vanished within the waters, bowing his head to send a prayer to his friend... His  _sister._

_'Miwa... My dearest sister... Be safe and hold on, until the time comes for you to know the truth... Our **Missing Piece**.'_

The moment he finished his prayer, he immediately took off for the direction to the Lair... Where he will face many more hardships and challenges that date to stand in his way... Which now includes returning Karai, Hamato Miwa, back to her true clan And fight alongside with her  _real_  family, to face the true murderer who killed her... Who killed  _their_  mother.

**TBC**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know you expect more butt kicking, but I feel this needs to be brought up, once and for all, especially now that the truth has been revealed.
> 
> In the show, when Karai revealed to Leo that Shredder was her father, he should've been the first to realize and figure out that Karai is his long-lost half-sister and Hamato Yoshi's presumedly deceased daughter, Hamato Miwa. I mean, Splinter stated to April that she would be around her she, which the guys would also know about. Not only that, but Saki only loved Tang Shen. Meaning, he wouldn't had sire any children before his betrayal to the Hamato Clan.
> 
> So, in conclusion, it would've been obvious to Leonardo that all this time, his sister was alive and had been lied to by the true murderer of her mother.
> 
> *: Believe it or not, I actually do that, sometimes. Whenever I feel this urge to be on my feet and just walk, any ways to just be moving around, I'd walk in a circle in my living room. Sometimes, because of stress, or just to help get my muscles moving before heading for work… It would drive my brother crazy, because he says he can hear me 'stomping' outside of his bedroom from the hallway, closed doors, both his and living room TV on.
> 
> *: There are reasons why I don't support/like Leorai, Apritello and/or even Minet (Michelangelo and Renet)/Michealgami (Michelangelo and Shinigami), and this is one of those top reasons: The guys may be half-human from the Mutagen, but, they're, by birth, born as animal and still, very likely have their animal anatomy. While the human females they're paired up with, even if they're part-Kraang, been mutated or whatever reasons, all of the girls are born, by birth, humans. There for, their pairings, to me (especially, my religion) and maybe even other peoples who don't support these pairings, is Beastiality. And that's something I can't/won't accept (Don't know why the makers/producers of the shows don't see this sort of issues when doing pairings, let alone that having Leo with Karai is basically Incest).
> 
> *: In a pack, certain members gain new Rankings that tells them of their current position of the pack. So, in due time, April's given name (even his brothers and allies/friends' given name) by Leonardo's Instinct will surely change. So, just in case you think I forgot what their names were by his Instinct, keep this in mind.
> 
> *: The Upsilon are the scouts or spies of the pack. They go into other pack territories in order to find out what's going on. Afterwards they report back to the Alpha and tell them about all that they have seen, even should it just be that pups have been born. They will also report to the Zeta if they were asked to find wolves of their own for battle, or they report to the Alpha pair. (Scouts/Spies).
> 
> And in other news... Probably, an important announcement... Me, my mom, brother and sister are moving in a few weeks... We're not moving very far, just somewhere near Oakhurst. Apparently, my mom and her fiancé are going to live separately for a little while, because of certain issues that needs to be taken care of (Mostly, his youngest son meddling and causing problems to the family and their relationship).
> 
> She's also hoping, while my siblings and I help out by paying rent, she'll see about buying a house for us to permanently live in, instead of always moving every few years. Hopefully, this house will be the one, since the owners were talking about selling it.
> 
> So, just giving you guys a heads up.
> 
> R&R


	16. Nature Vs Toxicity

**A Week Later, June Eighteenth…**   
_Kraang are becoming more bolder with their invasion plan… And I fear that they're working alongside Shredder._

_This week, it's been hell. For the guys, April… Also, Miwa. But most of all, for me._

_April and Donatello were studying sewage and, discovering what Kraang plans to do from their storage unit, found out they're going to poison the city's water by mutating it into… Kraang Water. They showed it being an acid substance, which is very harmful to human and other life-base forms on Earth. The guys and I went to the bottom of the_ _East River to put a stop to their operation, while April decided to go up to the surface for some 'Human-Food', unable to stomach Michelangelo's dangerous concoctions he would make._

_The mission **could've**  gone smoothly, if a couple of problems didn't get in our way: Donnie didn't put his phone on silence when April was calling for help, he should've made the Turtle Sub a bit more mobile or at least a better way to gain power-source instead of having Raph, Mikey and I to use exercise equipments most of the way there… And most of all, if we didn't need to deal with some sea monster that's been created to attack non-Kraang on sight… And, apparently, was looking for a mate and decided it wanted the Turtle Sub as its Life-Mate._

_We got away and succeeded on stopping the Kraang's attempt to poison our water, making it back to the Lair minutes before April came back… Who was running for her life from being kidnapped… By **Miwa**. I, secretly, didn't fault her for attempting to grab April; Shredder must've found out about April and ordered Miwa to catch her, to use her as bait to draw us out. While my brothers were more than ecstatic to hear how she got away, much to part of my anger._

_Unfortunately, for April, because we don't know why Oroku Saki wants to kidnap her and with Kraang still after her, Master Splinter has decided to have her stay in the Lair. While she's on Summer Vacation, preventing her from going up to interact with any humans she's friends with was still devastating to our human-friend… So, like myself, she's a prisoner within the Lair… Though, part of me speculate she's not entirely human._

_Earlier, after Donatello used one of Michelangelo's pizza to demonstrate how Kraang Water responds, our youngest brother knocked over the beaker that held the Kraang Water and some of it spilled onto April's arm. Rather than become like acid or start burning her, it did nothing to her. And when Kraang entered their waters to see what entered their base, they were perfectly fine when coming back from our little distraction._

_...I don't like where my thoughts are going with this, but I can't ignore them if they tell me why Kraang are so desperate to get April. However, until we get more information on their plans of the invasion, I'll keep my thoughts silent... For her own sake._

_A few days later, another incident occurred... Involving the one human I didn't want to see: Timothy, the "self-proclaimed" Pulverizer... Only, this time, he was wearing a Foot Clan uniform... The clothes of our enemies. Although_ _, clearly the Foot saw how expendable he is and has been ranked: A_ _shigaru Sha._

_According to him, the Foot Clan are fighting the Kraang, but I knew that wasn't true. He then decided, after Donnie told him to quit the Foot, to become our "Undercover Spy". Don and I were against it, but Raph suggested that we need to know what they're doing with Kraang technology and let Timothy play along, when he wasn't going to listen a single word we tell him unless it's going along with his stupid idea._

_On that same day, Sensei decided to have us switch weapons, in order to demonstrate how each of us are relying too much on our weapons and, should there be a time where we don't have our weapons, to use other items to become our temporary weapons._

_I was given Donatello's Naginata Bō... Which I named Gonnosuke, when I was trained to wield him* at the age of six. It's been quite some time since I last trained with Gonnosuke but I never slacked on my fighting style with the Bō._

_Of course, I expected my brothers to show poorer results when gaining different weapons and, just as I thought, they all fell by their carelessness and inexperience to wield unfamiliar weapons. I was very unpleased to give Musashi and Kamiizumi to Michelangelo and how he nearly skewered himself, but was quite entertained to watch them all fall by their own hands._

_I even gotten the chance to, not only further bring them all down in defeat at the same time, but to also demonstrate my fighting style with Gonnosuke_ _and, soon after, the rest of my brothers' weapons._

_Unlike Gonnosuke, learning to wield Kayura and Yakuza wasn't easy when first training with them. Eventually, it wasn't long until I learned to treat them like claws that I formed a connection with the girls and found some understanding to how Raphael feels when the sais gives strength to overpower our opponents. As for Okinawa and Lee, I had to import my movements and fighting-style from the Rope Dart to wield Okinawa, while also treating her and her brother as if they're my tail… Which they have to be fast and agile, like the serpent._

_After_ _reviewing my skills with each of their own weapons, Master Splinter urged them to try and bond with unfamiliar weapons, much to the guys' distaste. The guys, Raphael and Donatello, tried bonding with their 'new' weapons, while Michelangelo used Musashi and Kamiizumi as kitchen utensils. I was angered that he would disrespect **my**  fangs, but had to push down the urge to smack him down and lecture him to respect other people's belongings, which includes their Soul-Weapons, when Master Splinter ordered us to bond with the weapons, individually._

_Some time later, Timothy contacted us to the Foot's next location and when we got there, found them stealing mutagen. While I was able to hold off my own and taken down any Foot that came for me, my brothers struggled with their own… While we'd be disobeying Sensei's orders, I called out a switch and we all tossed our weapons to each other, easily taking down Xever and Bradford to force them to retreat._

_Just as I knew was going to happen, when we returned to the Lair, Master Splinter greeted us back, disappointed in us for not taking his lesson seriously, and confiscated our weapons. And worse? Shortly after that moment, Timothy contacted us to tell us Shredder's going to make his own Mutant-Army… And he, the most idiotic human we ever came across, volunteered to be the testing experiment and become a mutant._

_We all went up to the Surface World to track down Tim's phone, only for Xever to hold us back when tailing them to their location, which left Raph, Mikey and I follow by foot while Don went on ahead on the Stealth Bike. We arrived just as our Genius brother and Tim were surrounded, where we immediately went to grab temporary weapons to use in battle. I used a lug wrench as my substituted weapon. It wasn't as strong as my swords, but at least it did some form of damage… Though, not as much as my fangs did, when getting in close enough to sink them through the Foot's armor and force medium damage._

_…Sadly, are effort to get Timothy out was wasted when that human, purposely, dumped mutagen onto himself and mutated before our eyes… It was a very disturbing sight to witness, watching as the mutagen basically eats away his flesh and morphing his body into a see-through gelatin monster, with his organs perfectly intact and unharmed. During his transformation, Bradford had the rest of his ninjas to seal the exits and blow up the warehouse in two minutes, with us left inside to either die by the explosion or Timothy's acids._

_With Donatello's quick thinking, we were able to trap Timothy into a Kraang Mutant-container, all of us getting on the Stealth Bike and ramming through the window before time was up. We took him home with us, where Donnie will keep him in his lab and hope that someday, somehow, he was going to turn him back to normal*. The question we all wondered: How long will it take?_

_He's clearly a teenager, probably older April but around sixteen or seventeen. I had Karasu locate his home during the day and gather whatever details she could about his home, which includes the whereabouts of his parents… Both of which are, shockingly, out of states on business trips. According to her description of his house, Timothy lives in a PUD_ _Townhome, nearby the SoHo district._

_He isn't rich, but his parents are upper second-class citizens to afford a modest home and live a comfortable life. Karasu was able to get into his house and bring us Timothy's spare cellphone, where Donatello hacked into the device and reveal his parents' schedule to being completely booked until Spring. Meaning, we have about nine months before his parents return from business trip, to turn Timothy back into a human._

_So, as I said earlier, this week has been hell for us all… But neither of those events, could be compared to what happened, **after**  Miwa and I took down the scout-ship._

_Apparently, Master Splinter and April returned to the Lair a bit earlier from their practice run and when they found my brothers, paralyzed, he freed them from the effects of pressure points. My guess was Raphael told him that I turned on them to keep my alliance with Karai and attacked them, not mentioning their plan of mutiny to take down Shredder, by surprise._

_When we got back to the Lair, Raphael and I got into a heated argument. It eventually got worse when he said, **"Since you clearly like her so much, you should go join the Foot Clan!"**_

_…I snapped. I attacked first, leading him to be pinned… With my own fangs, clamping tight around his throat. I wouldn't let him go, even when he, Don, Mikey and even April tried to pull me off. It wasn't until somebody forced my jaw open by pressing a pressure point underneath my jaw and, when I turned to flash my slight blood-covered fangs to who dare interfere with Raphael's punishment… I stared into the cold, angry eyes of my Sensei, as he got me down on my side and forced me to sleep through pressure points._

_On that day, I broke two laws: Never harm a pack-mate that involves blood to be spilled… And never bare your own fangs to the Alpha._

_I confined myself in my bedroom for two days, until Michelangelo was sent for me to rejoin them for training sessions. I was expecting Sensei to disband the team until we could learn to trust each other or, once again, learn to work together. But that conversation never came._

_They may act like that event never happened, but I won't forget it. Raphael, I know, won't be able to forget what happened, since I marked him with my fangs. They'll fully heal, thankfully, but that won't make a difference. And, until I make it up to them, the guys, April, even Sensei can't trust me._

* * *

**Ten Twenty-Six, at Kraang's Secret Lab…  
** "Ahhh! Ahhh, ahhhhhh!" Michelangelo cried out, running in circle in the small-room, as a giant, mutated-enhanced wasp, about the size of a Berkshire pig, chased him in the air. Leonardo, Raphael and Donatello stayed hidden in the rafters, waiting for the blue-masked turtle to give them the signal to pounce.

Donatello learned of a secret lab Kraang has been experimenting lately, which he hopes may give them a clue of their invasion plan and when it'll take place. But when they got there, they found the room trashed and the Kraandroid endoskeletons, abandoned and damaged. The walls have posters of Arthropods, indicating Kraang has been experimenting on insects. Mikey is the first to locate the mutated enhanced-wasp before it attacked, attempting to stab its stinger into one of its turtle-victims.

When finding it difficult to catch it without running the risk at getting stung, Don had Mikey have the wasp's attention on him, while he and their big brothers come up with an idea. It was Leo who silently suggested attacking from above to pin it to the ground, hoping that it could force its stinger into the ground and get locked into the cement, killing it the moment its stinger gets removed.

"On my mark," he whispered. Mikey ran by them once, then a second time, and a third time before the blue-masked turtle knew they were ready. "Now!"

All three of the oldest Hamato Sons jumped… Only, at the same time they jumped, Michelangelo brought out his Kusarigama and wrapped the end of the chain around the insect. He pulled the wasp down, as the three brothers missed their target and landed roughly to the ground.

"Ha. How you like me now?" The youngest called out, acting like a big shot that  _his_  idea worked and why his brothers didn't think his idea was going to work… He soon learned why: The wasp quickly got back in the air, chain still wrapped around its Thorax and ended up pulling the orange-masked turtle with his surprisingly super-enhanced strength.

While Leo, Raph and Don were picking themselves off the ground, the wasp flew in their direction and Mikey slammed his shell against Raph and Don. Leonardo was able to see the attack coming and did a somersault, pulling out Kamiizumi to make an attack on the wasp.

Mikey was dragged in the air in a final circle before his arm slipped out of his Kusarigama's chain and landed in-between his older-brothers.

_ Behind you! _

The warning actually surprised Leonardo; he couldn't hear its buzzing after it got Mikey loose from Okinawa, but still heard a light humming that he would guess are the wings.

 _'Probably a new ability the mutagen gave it,'_ he thought. He turned to the wasp, which was almost in its face, its stinger out and in position to jab it in his neck.  _'I don't have enough time to dodge it… Looks like I don't have a choice.'_  Leo launched himself straight at the bee and stabbed his blade in-between its Thorax and abdomen… Allowing the stinger to slam straight into his left-arm. The attack made him yelp out in pain, feeling the barb of the stinger dig through his skin and into his muscles with ease. And, because it's curved, he could feel the end go straight up into his shoulder.

In response to the pain, he leaned up at the wasp's neck and, with one, strong snap, ripped the wasp's head from its Thorax. He tasted a thick liquid that made him sick to his stomach, which he's certain that it was mutagen mixed with the wasp's blood and venom, that he forced himself to vomit what little blood and venom that trickled down his throat.

_**Remove Thorn-Fang, prevent more venom from entering Pup's being.** _

He reached with his right-hand to pull the stinger out, only for a pair of hands to stop him.

"Let me pull it out, Leo." It was Donatello who offered, as he grabbed for the end of the stinger. "You might accidentally jostle the stinger from the position it's in, and that it's curved instead of straight." After the explanation, the blue-masked turtle allowed his younger-brother to pull the stinger out from his arm. The three brothers were amazed on how long the stinger was, approximately two feet in length by Don's calculation. "All right. Leo, I need you to be straight with me. Are you okay?"

If there was a normal wasp, he wouldn't be that too concern of the sting his brother gained, also that none of them have any allergies towards bees, but because it's a mutated-enhanced wasp, there's no telling what sort of effects its venom could cause.

Leonardo slightly moved his arm a bit, wincing a bit at the sight of the mark the stinger left in his arm.

_ That's going to be sore for a week, in the least. _

"Pretty sore," he winced a bit from the reply. "But I think I'll be-…"

Something pulled his head a bit to the side, his right-eye twitched a bit and his voice cut off for a moment.

_ **Egg! Must find Egg! Find, and protect Egg!** _

"Fine." A pulsing headache thumped in his head, feeling something leading him to where he has to go.  _'Where am I going?'_  He tried to stop to collect his thoughts, but for some reason, he couldn't get himself to do so until he came to the dark-corner of the room. There, he found a piece of newspaper on the ground, covering something. Out of curiosity, he kneeled over to pull it back, and was stunned. "Whoa…" He turned to his brothers, knowing they have to see what he found. "Guys, look at this."

What was inside the newspaper, was a light dark-yellow, jellybean-shaped egg. It was as big as their arm, and the same length from their wrist to their shoulder.

"It's some kind of egg." Donatello concluded, amazed at the size of the egg before them.

Leonardo was too fascinated on the egg, that he didn't care to hear what he or the others had to say. For some reason, he feels like he  _has_  to take this egg somewhere safe and guard it.

"Stand back. I'll handle this." Michelangelo stepped up, bringing out his Nunchaku, which Leo has dubbed as Lee, to use as his choice of weapon to kill the egg.

"I'm betting on the egg." Raphael mocked, as the youngest began spinning his weapon. The sound sent a cold chill down the eldest-turtle's spine.

_**Stop threat! Guard Egg! Protect Egg! Host MUST protect Egg!** _

"Wait!" He yelled, grabbing for Mikey's left-hand to stop the spinning sound of his weapon. The three were a bit surprised by his interference. "We're  ** _not_**  hurting it."

_**Egg threat to Pup and Kins! Pup MUST kill Egg!** _

Leonardo agrees with his Instinct… But, for some reason, he can't go along with what he and his brothers has to do. Instead, he sticks to what the other voice is telling him to do.

"We came here to find out what the Kraang are up to, and this egg is our only clue." It was somewhat a believable argument he's making, though they still seem a bit uncertain with their leader sparing the wasp's egg. "We should take it back to the Lair and have Donatello analyze it."

The entire time, he kept his eyes completely on the egg. He couldn't take his attention off from the egg, not even for a second.

"Great idea. Let's take the mutant wasp egg into our home where we live. What's the worst that could happen?" Raphael sarcastically replied, trying to make a point that they shouldn't take the egg back to their home… At least, not when there's a living wasp inside of it.

"It's not safe leaving this around." As if he didn't hear what his twin just said, Leonardo still stuck to his guns on bringing the egg. However, this time, he turned to meet their gaze, reassuring them with his Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes… Which, for some reason, had an off gaze. "It'll be fine, I'll just keep an eye on it."

Wanting to get home and not stick around in a dark room with a dead wasp behind them, Michelangelo went along with his decision.

"I'll get it," he offered. He took a step forward to the egg… And that set an alarm off in Leonardo's head.

_**Keep away from Egg! Threat AWAY from Egg!** _

As the voice commanded, he snapped at his orange-masked turtle, making him back away from the egg.

"Paws off!" His sudden outburst towards Michelangelo was totally unexpected, and uncalled for, to the three brothers. Besides the few times he actually snaps when stressed, his behavior is very alarming.

"Dude, are you all right?" Raphael asked, actually concerned that something could be wrong with his older-twin. "'Cause unmotivated outburst of anger are kinda my thing."

**_ Threat! ALL threat to Egg! Host guard Egg! Host PROTECT Egg! _ **

"The egg could be fragile." He replied, gently scooping the egg into his arms and held it up against his plastron. "Michelangelo cannot be trusted with it. I'll carry it, myself." He got to his feet and immediately head for the exit, to the Shellraiser.

_**Pup not self. Wrong with Pup. Must NOT protect Egg! Pup MUST protect Kins!** _

He tried to listen to his Instinct, to release the egg from his grasp and pull his blades out to stab the wasp within the egg… But he can't. The twitching pulled his head to the side and his head is being beaten like a drum, letting out a groan of pain as the burning in his arm grew from his limb to his neck.

* * *

 **Back at the Lair, in the Lab…  
** The egg has been set in one of the beanbag chairs, where it would be protected from being scratched on the hard floor and away from any sharp objects Donatello had on his workbenches. Donatello got to his knees, getting closer to the egg, as Leonardo stood beside him, eyeing his brother's every move.

"Fascinating." He Genius turtle complimented, before pulling out a scalpel. That immediately had the blue-masked turtle to intervene.

"Stop! What are you doing?!"

"Dissecting it." Donnie replied, in a normal tone of voice. Leo's hands slightly twitched, as the pulsing in his head grew.

"Absolutely not!" He put himself before the egg, pushing his brother away from it, keeping the scalpel far from the egg. "This is the only egg we have. We need to learn how it develops."

It's pretty clear he doesn't want the purple-masked turtle to make any contact with the egg, even when he,  _himself_ , suggested Donnie should analyze it to learn more what Kraang has been doing with their experiments with Arthropods.

"Well, then… I guess I'll just keep staring at it." Donatello awkwardly suggested, hoping that'll get his big brother to calm down.

"Good idea." Leo agreed, before pointing a finger to where Raphael and Michelangelo stood at the doorway. "From over there."

He knew what his brother wanted him to do, but decided to do a little test experiment with Leo. So, Don took a sideways step to his right, away from the egg, hoping that would be enough to satisfy their leader… That earned him sharp, narrow eyes glaring through his brownish-red eyes and into the depths of his soul. Almost immediately, he took wide steps backwards, to where his older and only youngest-brothers were at.

That finally pleases Leonardo enough to not utter another word to them and turn his shell to them, continuing to stare at the egg before him. After receiving that kind of reaction, warned the purple-masked turtle that something is seriously wrong with the blue-masked turtle. And right now, he needs to have a talk with his two, remaining brothers.

"Well, I think I will do…  _Something_ … In the other room.  _-He turned to the two turtles beside him-_ Raph, Mikey, care to join me?" Even when purposely acting non-causal in his tone of voice, Leonardo didn't even bother looking over his shoulders to make sure they actually do leave the lab. Either he already knew they'd leave him and didn't want to see them off, or he's really out of it by his sudden obsession with protecting the egg.

"Not unless you get more specific." Michelangelo replied, earning him to be grabbed by the tails of his mask and pulled out of the room by his purple-masked brother. Raphael followed the two, silently pulling the door until only a slight gap could show the inside of Don's lab.

The instant he knew they were gone, Leonardo took the opportunity to remove Musashi and Kamiizumi from their scabbards and laid them on the ground. He knew they'll try to take the egg away from him and when they do, he'll be ready t-

_**PUP** NOT **HARM KINS! PUP** PROTECT **PACK!**_

He flinched from the yelling, his hands turning into fists and banging one of them against the ground.

"…Kins… B…  _Brothers_ …  _Pack…!_ " He growled out through clenched teeth, his muscles twitching for control. "Must… Protect…  _Brothers_ …!"

He went to push himself off the ground… Only for the burn to grow.

_ **Host PROTECT Egg! MUST** _ PROTECT _ **Egg!**_ _ **GUARD Egg with Host's LIFE!** _

The pain in his head grew worse as the burning feeling continued traveling from his neck to his head. His head twitched to the side and eyes dilating from little to no control of functioning properly, making his vision blur with the darkness consuming what he sees.

He clenched his head painfully, letting out distorting grunts, as he feels his head is being split open by a sledgehammer.

 _ **"Aaauh, aauh!"**_ Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes snapped opened when he heard the call of Karasu, fear gripping his heart, alongside the burn-like venom going through his head.  _ **"Big Brother, I'm back!"**_

He hunched over, banging his head against the ground he kneeled over, still keeping his head in his grip.

**_ MORE Hosts! NEED  _ ** MORE ** _Hosts!_** MORE _ **Hosts for Egg!**_

_'No… Leave her!'_

A pair of wings were coming his way, making him more desperate to keep fighting the voice.

 _ **"Leo? What's wrong?"**_ The moment he felt a pair of talons rest on his shell… He snapped.

 ** _*Snnarrrllll!*_** His jaws smacked down at the air, forcing the raven/crow-hybrid to fly back in the air, startled and confused.

 ** _"Big Brother!"_** She screeched, taken back at the snarling, feral-crazed turtle below her, circling the egg on all-fours like a overprotective predator guarding its young, eyeing her with a horrific gaze like he's going to eat her… She knew something isn't right with him.

Leonardo growled, stomping his hands into the ground, heading slightly pulled back but keeping his now complete black-void eyes on the bird.

_*Grunt* **Snort**   ***Snnarrrlll*** Grrrrooowwllll…  **"…Haaaauuuhhhh…" ~Click-click-click~**_

The sound he made to her was a clear warning that only she and other animals understand… And she knew, when seeing this very odd and terrifying behavior, means the one who raised her from a hatchling has caught something dangerous… And  _extremely_ deadly to her, and the rest of her pack.

And even through this startling change, he's trying to keep her safe… From  _himself_.

_**Call down! Bring to Host, to**_ BECOME  ** _Host!_** MORE  ** _Hosts for Egg!_**

He glared at the bird and let out a bark of a roar.

 _ **"GO!"**_  Immediately, Karasu left the room, leaving behind her big brother with the egg… And the voice that's poisoning his mind.

* * *

Since that night and throughout the entire day, the three brothers tried to get their big brother out of the room and away from the egg. With their father off doing a training exercise with April and won't be back until the next day, they were on their own to come up with ideas on luring their brother out of the lab.

…There efforts and plans, proved to be ineffective.

They tried luring him out with food, meals that they, mostly Michelangelo, like to eat… Not even the scent of warm food made him flinch away from the egg, let alone head for the bathroom to vomit from the multiple scents hitting his strong sense of smell and making his stomach upset.

Raphael turned the television to play an episode of "Space Heroes" with the volume up, thinking his twin will come out running to watch an episode he may or may not had seen… Only that plan showed the same results as the last plan, not realizing Leonardo has finally renounce his favorite TV show he was intrigued to watch as a toddler, two months ago.

As a final ditch effort, they pretended to inform him that Karasu got caught by Kraang and that they needed to go topside to save her… Like a frozen statue, he didn't move or even utter a sound of concern for the raven/crow-hybrid. Either he knew, which they guess was most likely the case, they were lying or, somehow, knew where the black-bird is, they can't be positive for certain and are very disappointed that they can't get him to budge in the least.

That was the final straw for Raphael. He was so sick of the wasp-egg, he made the decision to destroy it, tonight.

…None of the brothers knew what they'll be facing that night… Or what they'll be witnessing.

* * *

 **Ten Forty-Seven, Nighttime…  
** Just as he said he was going to do, Raphael snuck into Donatello's lab. Being as stealthy and silently as he was taught, he quietly opened the closed door and went inside. Upon opening it, he was actually surprise to find his brother nowhere in sight, coming up with the conclusion that he finally went to sleep.

 _'About time,'_ he smirked.  _'Thought it'll take forever for him to finally get some sleep, much less use the bathroom.'_  Eyeing the egg, still on the beanbag chair, he slowly stalked towards the defenseless wasp-egg. He pulled out one of his sais, the right-sai that Leonardo has secretly named Yakuza, raised it over his head and brought the three blades down.

…Only for his sai to be halted by a samurai-sword… A sword that belongs to his older-twin, Leonardo.

Raphael was taken back a bit, before he recovered from his shock and turned his anger onto his brother.

"Leo, what are you doing?"

He didn't receive a verbal answer… But when he eventually saw the black that consumed his eyes and found himself tossed away from the wasp-egg, he gained the answer he and his younger-brothers were trying to find: The wasp that stung him, must've done something to him,  _mentally_.

He immediately got back to his feet, glaring at the blue-masked turtle who proceed to growl lowly at him.

"If that thing hatches, it might try to eat us." Again, he received no verbal response from his brother. All Leo did was bring up Musashi, indicating he's ready for a fight… Then, the red-masked turtle saw it.

_~Hiiiisssss~_

The unclear liquid of saliva dripping from his fangs, with a small touch of foam on the corner of his beak. The indication that the wasp did something to his brother.

…He's sick, not in his right mind, and is beyond reasoning with. And that angers the red-masked turtle, so much, that he's more than ready to have a throw down with his twin. He may not know how long he has before the wasp-egg hatches, but he knows the sooner he brings his brother down, the sooner he can take care of the egg and get Donatello to treat their ailing brother.

"All right, this freak show ends now." He yelled, charging towards his brother, sai out and ready to lock weapons with his twin.

* * *

 **Leonardo's POV  
** Raphael charged at me, Yakuza in his hand, intending to snare Musashi in a lock-hold near the hilt and force me to let go. I blocked his attack with Musashi held out in the side… Then lead up, snapping my fangs to  _bite_ him.

I need to warn him away. By God, Raphael, stay  _away_  from  ** _me!_**

"Come on, Bro. Snap out of it!" He needs to leave. Get away, Raph!

_** Protect Egg! ENSNARE threat…!  ** _ MORE  ** _Hosts for Egg!_**

I charged at him, my sword slapped aside by Kayura being drawn out into battle and my twin went into the offense, forcing me to dodge the attack. I know he's aiming for my head to knock me unconscious or at least give me a concussion with the hilt of his sais, while making a grab for Musashi with his own blades.

My hands, clenching tightly to my sword, trembled. I'm still trying to fight the burn traveling throughout my body, to push back at the pressure pressing down my brain and regain whatever control of myself as I can.

_**Pup** FIGHT **Disease! Pup** PROTECT  **Kin!**_

My Instinct keeps calling out to me. Pushing me to keep fighting this infectious disease that runs through my veins… That forces me to turn on my brothers, and protect the  _true_  threat.

_ **Hosts for Egg!** _ ENSNARE  **MORE** _ **Hosts for Egg!**_

The voice that keeps yelling in my head… It  _isn't_  my Conscience. It went silent… Replaced by this venomous, toxic siren, screaming in my head… The voice my body now heeds to.

I launched myself in the air and brought Musashi down to Raphael… He caught the hilt of my blade, trapping Musashi in Yakuza's grasp and, after forcing me to let go by jabbing Kayura's hilt towards my forehead that I had to dodge from, tossed my blade to the ceiling of Don's Lab. I turned to see where one of my fangs hit, and was forced to hunch over when Raph delivered a powerful kick to my shell.

My left-hand went to pull Kamiizumi out... Only to be stopped by my right-hand, pulling it down and away from my second-fang as possible. It's the only control I have over myself and I can feel it already slipping away, as the pulsing beats down harder on my mind.

Please,  _Raph_ , get out of here...!  _Leave_ me!

"You're not yourself, Leo!" He doesn't take the moment to leave me here and lock me inside the lab. He stays behind me, pushing me to admit that something is wrong with me when I already knew of the disease within me. "Let me help you."

No! I don't need your help... I  _can't_ get any help from anybody! Get away, Raph. Just. Go...  _ **Away!**_

I turned to him and let out a roar, startling him before I went to pounce on him, snapping my fangs in the air to make him back away. I probably woken up Don and Mikey, which I hope they'll get in here and get Raph out of the lab. If not, Karasu will get them in my place.

He dodged my attempts to grab him, the toxic voice of the siren chanting me to infect my brother with it's venom.

_**More Hosts for Egg... More**_  HOSTS  _ **for Egg...!**_ MORE  ** _Hosts for_** EGG _ **!**_

Raphael ducked and landed a kick to my side, sending me to the ground away from him. My body has me land on my hands and feet, forcing a hiss from my burning throat, the toxic saliva dripping from my fangs.

My body allowed him the chance to gather himself off the ground, before I sprinting towards him on all-fours and pinned him on his shell. I flashed my fangs down at my struggling twin, who fights to get me off of him but unable with his arms pinned by my legs and his sais separated when I rammed him. My hands gripped tightly to his shoulders, forcing him to bare his neck for me to lay my mark. With no control over my action, I slowly leaned in to his neck.

**_ New Host.  _ ** ANOTHER  ** _Host to guard Egg. To PROTECT Egg... To_** SACRIFICE SELF  _ **for**_ EGG ** _!_**

The voice sang with satisfaction, as my contaminated fangs nearly touched his skin.

"Leo... Stop!" Raphael yelled, still fighting to break free and eyeing my teeth with disgust at the mixture of foam and venom nearing his throat. "Don't you even think about biting me again, with those gross spit of yours!"

I jerked a bit when he said, again... And I remembered... I already marked him.

And, instantly, I remembered the taste of blood in my mouth, as I bit him in the neck. I wouldn't let go, even as he was gasping for breath I refused him to inhale.

The markings are faint, but still visible for me to see the damage I'd caused to my twin-brother.

"Raph! Leo!"

My darkened, changed sights looked from my red-masked brother to my two youngest-brothers, horrified on what they see before them.

...I was scared... Scared for them, than I was for myself.

The pulsing in my head slammed against my brain, having me clenching the left-side of my head. I hissed, some of my venomous saliva sliding down my chin and dripping onto Raphael's plastron.

MORE  ** _Hosts for Egg! NEED_** MORE  ** _for SACRIFICE! ENSNARE_** ALL!

I need to get them to get away from me... No...  _I_ need get away... From  ** _them!_**

They took a step towards us, and that's when I let out my snarl-mixed roar/howl at them.

_**"HUUUURRRRAAAAHHHHH!"** _

I jumped off of Raph, grabbed for the egg and immediately made a sprint to the garage part of Donatello's Lab, which was left open, allowing me to flee from the Lair and away from my brothers.

The venomous voice isn't pleased what I just did, pounding the pulse in my head as I ran down the tunnels of the subway.

**_ GO  _ ** BACK ** _!_** ** _Host_** Protect  ** _Egg, in Host's_** HIVE ** _! Must protect Egg... MUST have_** MORE  ** _Hosts, for_** EGG ** _!_**

I can't, and I won't. My muscles still tense as the voice keeps screeching in my head, part of it trying to slow me down and regain control.

I eventually found a tunnel that leads to the sewers and, already, my darkened vision was getting fuzzy. I began to feel tired, as my legs start to slow down from the venom.

**_Keep running, Pup! Keep RUNNING!_ **

My Instinct howled, temporarily pushing the venomous siren's voice out of my mind and stopping the pressure building against my brain. Regaining most control, I continued running.

I know I don't have much time before the voice force me back under it's control, but I need to keep as much distance from the Lair... From my  _brothers_ , as possible. I refuse to infect them with the virus that course through my body, or let this soon-to-be born wasp to devour anybody.

Whatever it takes, I must kill the wasp... Even if it means I die, trying.

* * *

 **Back at the Lair...  
** The three brothers all gathered around Donatello's computer, hoping the Internet could provide some information on how the mutated-enhanced wasp got ahold of their big brother by stinging him. While searching for the answer, Donnie collected some of the saliva Leo left on Raph in a small container, hoping that once he figure out how to treat their brother, he'll use Leo's saliva to help him create a cure.

He eventually found the site.

"Here it is." He informed his brothers, slightly scrolling down. "'The Parasitic Wasp infects animals with a virus that brainwashes them into protecting its eggs'."

Raphael may not be as smart as Don, but he was certain that the wasp they fought had a bigger abdomen than the one in the picture did.

"You think that's the kind of wasp that stung Leo?" He asked, though he knew better than to second-guess the Genius turtle.

"Positive. But, in this situation, a mutant version." Don replied, looking rather worried as he continued on reading.

"So, once the egg hatches, will he go back to normal?" Michelangelo asked, hoping it'll be that simple and easy to getting their brother back.

Don gave him a non-supportive look.

"Not quite," he replied. "Look what happens to the caterpillar guarding the egg." He slowly scrolled down the picture, showing the three Hamato Brothers the images of the baby wasp hatching from its egg and getting on top of the insect that watched over it… Till they got to the last image of the wasp, devouring the caterpillar.

"It's eating him! It's  _eating_  him! Ahhhh!" Mikey screamed in bloody-horror, ducking down to not have to look at the images that shows him what fate awaits for Leonardo. Raphael, very disgusted at the sight before him, clenched his hands tightly into the table, leaving small nail-marking into the hard material of their table.

 _'We should've destroyed it, earlier.'_  He growled in his mind.  _'We could've overpowered him if he tried to fight and kill the egg, back at that warehouse… Why didn't we stop him from bringing that egg to the Lair?!'_

In the back of his mind, he knows why: Because they messed up, big time, when they gone behind their brother's back and nearly gotten themselves killed by Shredder. Since then, and after having to admit to Splinter of their mutiny when Leo locked himself in his bedroom, they all swore to never question their leader's decision and actions… Though, now it seems they should've listened to a previous lesson their father told them to do, instead of going along with what they promised.

Trust your instincts… Unless, their instincts are wrong.

He turned to Donatello.

"You can fix him, right, Donnie?" He asked, hoping the Genius turtle will be able to come up with something before the egg hatches and eats his twin-brother.

"Well, with some of Leo's saliva I gathered, I should be able to create an Antibody for an antidote and a vaccine." Don replied, getting off his computer to go analyze the saliva through the microscope. "Just need to combine some of my experiments that'll eliminate all traces of the virus, then the Hybridoma culture has to incubate for ten minutes and then has to spin in the centrifuge for another five."

Besides Mikey, Raph isn't the most patient turtle in the family and hearing how long it'll take for Don to create the cure, it made his fear rise for his brother.

"You can't find a quicker way to make it?" He asked, watching as Donatello already started began to mix his chemicals in a beaker. "The egg could hatch at any moment, and we have no idea where Leo is right now."

"Science is delicate work, Raph, and demands as much time as it needs to be perfect." The purple-masked turtle stated, trying to stay calm and keep his attention on what he mixes together. "One mistake, and it'll make Leo's condition worse. Not only that, but it has to be able to prevent us from catching the virus, in case he bites us when we go off to find him."

"You mean, he'll turn us into slave-zombies?!" Michelangelo panicked from the thought of their brother biting them like an infected zombie and turning them in feral-crazed egg-obsessers. Both of the older-brothers stared at each other, not certain the proper way to tell him this situation isn't like the horror movies or scary comics he reads.

"Unless I give him the Antibody, then, sort of, Mikey." After he finished mixing the final ingredient and putting them into the Hybridoma culture, he put the small tray to incubate. "While this incubates, I'll try to get a lock on Leo's T-Phone and find his exact location."

Once again, going back on his computer, Donnie connected his own T-Phone into his computer and proceed to type away for any signs of similar signals he, himself, installed into the T-Phones. Moments like these, makes him so proud of himself for thinking ahead to installing failsafe designs into the phones, should they ever get separated or loss connection that he, himself, desperately needs to fully function.

Six minutes later, he got a signal.

"Found it!" He cried, immediately locking on to the signal on his computer and watching it slowly moving towards the south-parts of the city's sewers. "Thank God. He's still in the sewers." He informed Raph and Mikey, both also relieved to hear their leader isn't out on the streets biting people. Although, the Genius turtle's expression soon turned from relief to concern, as the signal continues heading down south. "Why's he going to the south parts of the sewers?"

Raphael caught up to his younger-brother's concern of which direction the eldest-turtle is going.

"Any particular reasons why there's something wrong on which way he's going? At least we won't have to guess where he could be."

"Yeah, but… While he's under the control of the virus, he would be finding a safe place to hide the egg. Instead, he's going to where there aren't really much places to hide and it doesn't look like he's stopping, anytime soon."

The information soon gotten the red-masked worried, too. As he stared at the monitor with Don, Raph's heart began to quicken its beat when he saw the direction the signal was heading. His eyes widened the closer the signal got to the near bottom of the city.

"Aw, hell!" He cursed, startling the two turtles. Raphael turned and head out of the garage door, only for Donnie to grab him.

'Raph, what's wrong?"

When his older-brother turned his Emerald-green eyes to stare into his own brownish-red eyes, the Genius turtle wasn't prepare to see the fear in the eyes of the hotheaded turtle.

"We need to find him, now! He's-!"

* * *

**Fifteen Minutes Later…  
** _**Host**_ PROTECT _ **Egg! Host**_ PROVIDE  _ **for Egg!**_ NEED  **MORE** HOSTS  _ **for**_ EGG _ **!**_

The virus continues to scream in his head, making his vision blur and his throat constrict with each breath he takes. The pressure continues to push down in his head, which he immediately bashes his head against the walls of the sewers, leaving dent-marks and small droplets of blood in those spots.

He knew in some parts of himself, he's leaving a trail for his brothers to follow and leading them to the threat that'll turn them into slaves to the wasp's venom. However, focusing on the pain that's inflicting onto himself and his Instinct helping him push on to keep fighting, was more important. Besides, as the fastest turtle in the group, they'd be less than halfway on his tail.

…Hopefully, he'll be long gone by the time they find where the trail ends and they will all be safe from the egg, and  _himself_.

He knew where he was heading for and, to him, it's the only place close enough to destroy the egg… With him, alongside.

_**HOST**_ PROTECT  **EGG!**

He nearly slipped to the ground when the toxic-siren's voice screamed in his head. His hold on the egg slightly tightened, keeping it firmly against his plastron to prevent it from falling into the water.

 _"Eeee~r~r~r~"_ Tittering sound was heard from inside the egg and slight shifting warned the blue-masked turtle that it's going to hatch, soon.

_**Hurry, Pup! Keep going!** _

His legs froze for a moment, trying to keep him rooted where he stood, but the turtle forced himself to keep moving. Even if he may be reduced to walking, at least he's still heading for where he knows he has to go.

…I one place he has been to before, and almost died, when protecting Raphael from a threat… The same place where White Death has left the two to live to this very day.

His vision shifted whenever his eyes would, uncontrollably, dilate. His head would twitch and flinch, and the pain in his head would pulse so badly that he was force to double take to catch his breath.

_**Host**_ PROTECT _ **!** **Host**_ PROVIDE _ **…**_ _ **! Host…**_ BELONGS  _ **to**_ EGG!

In anger and frustration, Leonardo let out a snarling roar and, purposely, slammed his head to his right into the wall. He then proceed to slam his head into the wall, again. And again… And again… Until parts of his face is decorated in tear-tracks of his own blood, staining his mask in the process.

_*Pant…* *Pant…* *Pant…* *Pant…* *Pant…*_

The pressure continued to pound into his mind, but the pain he inflicted was easier for him to focus on.

 _'I… Belong… To… **No one** …' _He made that thought long and hard, clenching his fangs together when he couldn't voice it out from the burning in his throat, before he continued down the direction the current was heading for.

…Soon, he heard the roar of the falls before he saw where the water fell towards their final destination… The water, and  _his_  final destination.

_"Eeeeee…. Eeeee. Eeeee~r~r~r~"_

Either the wasp heard the sound of the waterfall and was scared, or was just making the sound to announce it's going to come out of its egg. Either way, the blue-masked turtle pushed on, heading for the end.

Then, his ears caught the sound he hoped wasn't what he thought he heard.

_"Leo!"_

_***Tap-tap tap-tap tap-tap!*** _

His black-void eyes widened in horror, a clicking mix of a hiss left him.

_'No…! Not now!'_

The pressure in his head grew, the venomous-siren's voice calling out.

**_ Threats  _ ** COMES  _ **for Egg! Host**_ **PROTECT _Egg…! Threats_** BECOME  _ **Hosts for Egg!**_

Leonardo pressed on, tightening his grip on the egg that started to jostle a little bit.

_'Must… Hurry…! Keep… Going…!'_

He made it to the ledge of the falls, looking down on how high he was from the bottom of the pool. Just as he remembered, it was a long way far… Far, and long enough, to possibly kill a human, let alone an egg and a pit bull-sized mutated-enhanced wasp. Leo wasn't sure if he'll survive the fall like last time, on account he used White Death's body to absorb most of the impact.

Now, he has nothing but this egg to join him to his death.

_"Leo! Stop! Don't do this!"_

They're getting closer, and he knows there's no time for him to waste any more of it. His feet still refused to pick up the pace, but they still continued to move forward. His blood glided down his neck, some dripping off of his chin and onto the egg and his arms. All he can smell was blood, all he can taste was blood… And now, as he near the last part of the ledge, his blurred vision saw was blood.

_...Stop..._

He halted his steps, eyes widening when he heard that voice.

_'It can't be...'_

_...Don't do it..._

There was no mistaking it the second time. It was so quiet, barely above a whisper, but Leonardo is completely positive of the voice belonging to his Conscience.

_'...And, again... Interferes... At worst time.'_

_Because you pull the stupidest stunt, that endangers your life and will hurt your family!_

He took a step back away from the ledge, clenching the left-side of his head where the pulsing pain continues to grow.

_"Eeeee~r~r~r~r..._ _Eeeee, eeeeee~r~r."_

Light, scratching sound could be heard and felt through the egg... It's almost time. Using his trembling left-hand, he slowly pulled out Kamiizumi and thrusted the blade into the concrete.

_'...A Mark... For my grave.'_

He forced a step back to the ledge.

...Only for a pair of strong arms to pull him back, followed by a prick on the left-side of his neck. His eyes widened, before he made an attempt to bite at one of the arms that folded over his shoulders. He missed when they pulled away, allowing him to turn. Stunned, black-void eyes stared at his three brothers, gasping for breath. In Donatello's right-hand, a syringe that's empty. Raphael, being the closest, eyed him caustically, having to pull away in time to prevent his brother from biting him.

Michelangelo, in between the two, had a look of despair. He understood what the eldest is trying to do, and isn't happy in the slightest.

"Leo, it's going to be all right, now." Donatello spoke calmly, not wanting to stress or agitate his brother anymore than he already is. "I've just administered the Antibody, which should be curing the brainwashing virus from inside of you."

He couldn't believe what the purple-masked turtle just said.

_'He... Found a... Cure...?'_

He didn't know what to say, let alone what to think... Until the pressure on his head attacked his brain, forcing a yelp of a wince, clenching part of his bleeding head.

_**Host**_ BELONG  _ **to Egg! Will**_ **NOT _abandon purpose! Cannot_** KILL  **Egg _!_**

Raph took a step towards his brother, only to stop when Leo have him a warning hiss and snapped his jaw at his direction.

"Come on, Leo." He said to his older-twin, still trying to get close to his brother and away from the ledge. "Let us help you, Bro. Stop fighting us."

Leo made a low rumbling sound, his black-void eyes making it impossible for either of the three brothers to tell where he's looking… Then, they noticed the slight change of his posture, going to a hunch over position. They also saw the twitching of his head be replace with a struggling shake to keep his head up.

Donatello was the first to realize what's happening.

"The Antibody's starting to kick in," he informed Raph and Mikey. "He's starting to get drowsy."

Hearing the news, made the blue-masked turtle worried on a whole new level. He knows that if he falls asleep, right there and then, they'll be left alone to deal with a newly hatched wasp and run the risk on getting stung, before it tries to devour them. And with very little spacing and being so close to the waterfall, he fears they'll fall in and possibly drown from the force of impact.

_'No…! I can't… Must not-!'_

_"Eeee~r~r~r~r~"_

_*Crack*_

Through the roars of the falls, he heard the sound he didn't want to hear. Looking down, he saw a thin, hook-like appendage slowly popping out from a small-crack that's now on the egg.

_** …Yes… It is  ** _ ** TIME _! The Hatchling has_ ** COME _ **!**_

His right-arm went to set the egg down, but Leo attempted to keep it still in his grasp. His head twitched and he let out a grunting hiss, fighting the effects of the Antibody.

"Leo!" Mikey cried out, watching his brother taking a step over the ledge… And slowly fall back.

Immediately, Raphael went up and made a grab for his brother's left-arm, laying over the ledge while Leo now dangles in midair.

"I gotcha!" Raph called out, starting to pull the blue-masked turtle back up.

Frantically, Leo snarled and lifted himself up a bit to make a false attempt to bite Raph's arm. The red-masked turtle almost let go from the ruse, but Donatello joined in and grasp the arm alongside Raphael's hand.

"Leo, cut it out!" The purple-masked turtle informed, as the blue-masked turtle tried to bite them, again, his fangs barely grazing the skin on his left-hand. "You're going to fall to your death, if you keep fighting us!"

Leonardo kept on his persistence.

_'That's the idea, Donnie… I need to do this.'_

**_Pup must hurry! Hatchling almost free! Must PROTECT Kins!_ **

*Crack*  _ **Pop!**_

A piece of the egg came off and two more appendages crawled out… A fuzzy head with glowing, thin-green lines slowly coming out.

_**The**_ HATCHLING _ **! It has**_ **ARRIVED! _Host_ PREPARE  _for_** SELF-SACRIFCE _ **! Produce**_ MORE  _ **Hosts** **for**_ HATCHLING _ **!**_

He's losing control of the situation, becoming more agitated and frantic when his younger-brothers already started pulling him back to the ledge, Michelangelo keeping a firm grab for their belts.

_'I can't keep fighting! But, I need to keep them safe from the wasp… From **me**!'_

_ …Do… What you… Must… _

His Conscience faintly called out… Giving him a slight hint on what he can do to save them… He now knows what he has to do.

Right when his brothers almost got him back on the same ground with him… He leaned up at the two turtles… And  _bit_  Raphael's right-arm,  ** _infecting_**  him with the virus and forcing his hand to let go.

"Raph!" Mikey and Don cried out in unison and the moment the purple-masked turtle let go of Leo's arm in his haste, the blue-masked turtle released his hold on his twin's arm… And allowed himself to fall.

"LEO!" The three voices of his brothers screamed for his name, Raphael reaching out with his injured arm as Donatello and Michelangelo held him back, devastation written on their faces.

Leonardo simply stared at them… And ministered a small-smile of relief, before closing his black-void eyes and hugging the almost hatched wasp to him… Both of them, along with the egg that, surprisingly, held two more wasps, crashing into the bottom of the waters.

**_NOOOOOOOOOO!_**   **THE** HATCHLINGS!

The turtle, deep in the water, slightly opened his eyes to see his blood mix with the clean-water and the three wasps, desperately, attempts to head for the surface… All three couldn't make it, and now slowly sink to the bottom with the humanoid-wolf/turtle.

The pressure continued pressing down in his mind, but that didn't stop the fifteen year-old from being happy he accomplished his goal.

_'They're… Safe…'_

Was his final thought before he allowed the Antibody to pull him to the darkness, silencing the siren's voice from his mind.

* * *

 _ **"How much longer is he going to keep sleeping, Donnie?"**  _A voice called out from the darkness, bringing Leo from the darkness and slowly see a faint line of light ahead of him.

 ** _"For the twelve time, Mikey, I. Don't. Know!"_** A second voice yelled, startling the turtle to recognize the voices belonging to his brothers. The light grew and, after a few blinks, his vision adjusted enough to find himself in the living-room of the Lair.

"Don! He's awake!" A voice beside him called out, which, after turning his head slightly, saw it being Raphael to make the announcement. The hotheaded turtle, a bandage wrapped around his Humerus, had a big smile on his face when seeing his brother's Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes instead of pitch-black voids staring back at him.

…Then, Leonardo found himself wincing from being lightly punched in the right-shoulder by his taller-twin, the smile quickly replace by a scowl.

"That was a dirty stunt you pulled back there, Leo." Raph growled out. "You think it's all right to get yourself killed, after we went through the trouble on finding you and curing you from being brainwashed to a bee?!"

Leonardo, after slowly sitting up, turned his gaze away from his brother, ashamed. Not almost getting himself killed, but biting his brother and scaring them of his actions.

"…I-… I couldn't control myself," he tried to explain. "It wouldn't stop screaming. To protect the egg, to guard it… To  _infect_  you all with the virus, to become sacrifices.  _-He grabbed his head in both of his hands, feeling the gauze wrapped around his head to help stop the bleeding.-_ …I just wanted to stop hurting you guys… I wanted  _it_  to stop… To stop…!"

Raphael can tell how much this was hurting his brother, and his anger towards Leo went away… Soon, he found himself sitting beside his shorter-twin and pulling him into a hug, resting his head on top of the blue-masked turtle's.

"…It's okay, Leo." He whispered, slowly stroking Leo's shell with his left-hand while his right kept a firm lock around his shoulders. "It's going to be okay,  _ **Nīsan**_ (Older-brother)."

Behind the two, Donatello and Michelangelo watch the Kodak moment between their big brothers. Both of them are relieved to see Leonardo has finally woken up, but saddened to hear his burden when under the influence of the brainwashing. Silently gesturing them to join in, Don and Mikey joined in for a group hug, having Leo in the middle.

"It's good to have you back to normal, Bro." Mikey replied, nuzzling his cheek against Leo's right-cheek.

"Just, next time, don't pull any more stupid stunts like that, again." Donatello suggested, though he knew the likelihood of their leader keeping that promise was very slim.

"I'll do my best," he promised the Genius turtle. It wasn't the answer they were hoping to hear, but at least they know he'll at least keep that promise, with little effort.

_ You're too predictable to know you won't pull another suicide stunt… But then, you're an Enigma that's always able to surprise others, promises kept or not. _

Never, in so long, did he think he'd be so glad to hear his Conscience… Until now.

_'That's the price to pay, for the job of being a big brother to three humanoid-turtles.'_

As he allowed himself to find comfort in the warmth of his brothers' hug, the humanoid-wolf/turtle made one, solemn vow to himself. A sacred promise he will make himself keep for the rest of his days… Even, when he leaves the Hamato Clan to  _his_  freedom.

 _'As long as there's still breath in me, so long my Clan is in need of me, I will keep them safe from any threat that harms them._ '

In the back of his mind, his Instinct foresaw a glimpse of a vision on what may occur for the Hamato Brothers… A sign on what may be Leonardo's greatest challenge to ever face.

**_…And soon, Pup shall be put to trial… To prove Sacred Oath to be true amongst Pack… And Self._ **

**TBC**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *: Leo has a thing for naming weapons, along with identifying their own genders. Because, to him, they have some form of life in them (identities of their own that not many would learn or even know about) and has been taught that, so long you take care of them, the weapons will take care of you like they're your friends, family, companion or even some form of acquaintances.
> 
> *: The makers of the show better be thinking about doing a Season 6, because they left a certain amount of characters we haven't seen/heard and plot holes they need to fill in for us. I mean, seriously, when Don finally came up with a Retro-mutagen, we should've seen him cure Timothy (perhaps, around the time the Turtles and Mutanimals defeated Kraang and saved all of New York from the invasion). Or, perhaps, finding Snakeweed and Spider Bytez (After breaking them and other mutants from Kraang's prison/detention center/holding facility) to turn them back normal/humans.
> 
> Yeah, this chapter is shorter than the last chapter… But, next chapter and the chapter after that, will be a two part… Which, you'll guess what it's going to be. So, you all better be prepare for what's going to happen next!
> 
> AND HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
> 
> R&R


	17. Unveiling the Blood (Part 1)

**A Week and Two Days Later; July Fourth*…**   
_…It's time._

_…The invasion… Has finally come._

_The Kraang's Communication Orb, that April found in the sewers five days ago, started acting up. After some translation, Donatello pulled us all to his lab to hear what Kraang are up to… According to Kraang, in six hours, they'll open up a portal from Dimension X and bring something called the Technodrome to Earth… The final phase of their invasion plan._

_…That got me confused, and very on edge. From what we found out on their hard-drive, April is the key to their invasion plan and they don't have her. I feel this could be a trap, a ruse to lure us out and try to locate April to finally get her, but we can't take any chances if they're actually going to start their invasion plan._ _So, the guys and I must be prepared to go above ground and put a stop to their plan... Though, I feel something isn't right about this._

_It's_ _been going on for days, since we rescued Mr. O'Neil from the Kraang's Detention Center... And it's all linked to him._

_After Don and I went to find Kraang's secret prison from the secret message that's been sent to April, which I followed my younger-brother in the shadows until he nearly got blasted at a garage shop that Kraang has been using to hide their prison, we found the human completely unharmed_ _… And that should've told us that something was off with the rescue, but neither of us had time to think about it when we were being attacked by Kraang and an alien-salamander that Donnie called "_ Newtralizer".

_But now, ever since reuniting April to her father, I had some misgivings towards Kirby. Like, one moment he'd be talking to April about her schooling or interact with Donatello in his lab, and then the next moment he'd go quiet without warning or would excuse himself for no reason for his departure._ _April went back to living above the surface world with her father... And me, Karasu, my Instinct and even my Conscience weren't happy to have her leave. Not when the Kraang are still after her... And, that her father insisted on taking her home._

_I had Karasu go over to her home to watch over her, keep an eye out for anything suspicious and to warn us if the Kraang came for her. So far, there was no sign of Kraang, but she did tell me to see Mr. O'Neil at times be talking to himself most of the night and when left alone._

_…I'm afraid it confirms my suspicious… Kraang did something to him, either by brainwashing or hypnotism. I want to immediately get April back to the Lair and keep her away from her father, but my Conscience informed me that I can't do anything at the moment. I need proof to convince the others that there's something wrong with him. And even if I did have that proof, there's a chance that Kraang made some failsafe should his cover be blown and that's a risk we can't afford to take, if it jeopardizes Kirby's life._

_As my brothers and I prepare ourselves to leave for TCRI, I knew the instant we leave, April will be left unprotected the very moment she steps foot out of the Lair. I need to give her some warning to remain in the Lair with Sensei, who'll be the only one to keep her safe in our place._

_Raphael went to gear up on weapons and smoke bombs. Donatello and I focused on making Turtle Gliders, while discussing on infiltrating TCRI, update the Omniparticle Disintegrator, the Subspacial Endoparticle Disruptor we stole from Kraang, and using Metalhead as a distraction._ _Michelangelo… Decides to build up his strength, before we start to head out._ _Karasu will be joining us, but only to distract the cameras long enough for us to get inside and then is to return to the Lair._

_Before we went to prepare ourselves to save the world, Splinter wanted a moment to speak with me… And his words still continues to echo in my head: **"With the world at stake, the only thing of importance is that you complete your mission. No matter what you have to sacrifice… Or** who **."**_

_I know how important this will be, but for him to tell me that I may end up sacrificing my brothers, if it means saving the world-… I know no matter what, none of us would hesitate, not even for a second, to put our lives on the line to save all life on Earth from the Kraang… But, as the eldest turtle of the group and, **chosen**  leader, I must make the decision on who will be offered up as a sacrifice._

_…Yet, I could never bring myself to give up any of my brothers; we were able to reconcile some of the damage to our bond, relearning to trust each other and become a team, once more._

_…Tang Shen visited me last night, in my dreams. She was quiet, and just held me in her arms before I woken up… I've told her about Karai, on how I finally understand the_ _ **Kakete iru bubun**_ (Missing part)  _she wanted me to find and will do what I can bring Miwa back home to her true clan._

_…I saw her shed a few tears, and they were not tears of joy or relief… I felt like she was crying… For **me**._

_And, lately, I've been having odd glimpses in my dreams… Images of a faint figure, that I couldn't tell if it was human or not… But each time it appears, I would always try to reach out to it, as if reconnecting with a friend I haven't seen in years or reconnecting with a long-lost family I never knew existed… And each and every time I would barely make the slightest contact with this being, the darkness would embrace me and I would find myself waking up, lost and confused._

_Sometimes, in that dream, I would find myself standing in front of a mirror within the darkness… But, there's no reflection. Then, I would turn around to see another mirror and that would show my reflection. However, instead of doing what I'm doing, my reflection would point back to the mirror in front of me and when I do look back… A clawed-hand would come straight out of the mirror, grasp my arm and pull me towards the mirror, shattering it into many pieces._

_I didn't tell Master Splinter about this; we had enough worry on our plates to add in "meaningless dreams" to consider it as any importance to dealing with the Foot Clan and Kraang. The visions, they were so surreal. Even meditation and doing some soul searching didn't really help to figure out what it means… Besides that the mysterious figure was important to me._

_I just hope that when we **all**  get out of this, I'll finally be able to see this person and figure out the meaning to these visions… And should this be my last entry… Let it be, so that I was able to keep them all safe… And that  **I** , myself, will be the one to be sacrificed for them._

* * *

**In the Air of New York City…  
** The citizens of New York all went on with their days as they normally would do… None of them ever taking notice that, just over their heads, four teenaged, humanoid-turtles flying over their heads. All having gliders in shape of bat-wings, and small-fans on the top of the wings to help keep them airborne.

Staring down at the humans below him and his brothers, Leonardo felt out of place. Most likely, that he's been on the ground, and  _below_  the ground, that being in the air makes him have some strange feeling of Vertigo.

 _ **"It's something strange to adjust, huh?"**_ Karasu, flying beside him, questioned her big brother. While it was only natural for her, as a bird, to feel completely at peace with being in the air, she could understand his sense of unease at being new to flying. After all, when he helped her start to glide, she didn't become a pro at the first attempt to be in the air.

He smiled at her and nodded, before glaring at his brothers for wasting time by doing a midair high-three with each other. However, since there was no guarantee that they'll all get out of this,  _alive_ , he allowed them to take this moment to have some joy in each other's company. Besides, having to learn how to fly on fake wings and soaring through the air with Karasu, made this moment for him to enjoy what little peace they may have together.

It wasn't long before they reached TCRI and, when reaching the near highest part of the building, they made their landing on the ledge underneath the roof. They landed beside a small group of pigeons, all eyeing them in curiosity on how they got up and, somehow, flew with fake wings. Donatello silently pointed a finger to a blinking-light, all suspecting it being a security camera. While they could slip past it from underneath, if the camera caught even the slightest hint of movement from underneath, some Kraang would come out and catch them, even with Metalhead distracting their enemy by attacking them in the lobby.

Eyeing back at the pigeons, Leonardo turned to Karasu, who roost herself on his left-shoulder, and pointed a finger to the camera. She immediately went to work. She hovered in front of the camera, laying part of her talons to the slab part of the building to keep herself in place and acted like a curious bird to how many Kraang are watching. Immediately, the four brothers swiftly went around the edge, passing by the four pigeons and raven/crow-hybrid without making a single sound. They continued going to the other-side of the building until the blue-masked turtle signaled them to halt, sensing two Kraang guarding the front of the building on the same ledge they're on.

Immediately, Michelangelo and Donatello took over. As The orange-masked turtle went to distract the two, making taunting faces and 'falling' off the building, drew their attention to look down to the edge they saw him fall from and allowing the purple-masked turtle to charge and shoved the two of them off of TCRI.

After setting their gliders to hang on the edge, should they need make an immediate retreat, pulled out their makeshift grapple guns and, silently, glided down to the second tower across from them. There, they found a ventilation shaft that'll get them into the room where Kraang have their portal device. As they slowly went in, Leonardo waited to go in last and keep an eye out for any more Kraang they could've missed on the rooftop with them.

Karasu let out her signature caw, pulling his attention on her. She seemed very unease, her Onyx-black eyes staring into his Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes.

 _ **"Big Brother…"**_ She said, walking over to him. He lowered his arm to her, pulling it up when she took her spot on his limb.

After staring into each other's gaze, Karasu leaned forward and rested her forehead against his. The both of them knew how dire it is for them to succeed on stopping the Kraang… And they both knew what the blue-masked turtle will probably end up doing, which neither of them are thrilled of the thought.

They pulled away, continue to stare back at one another with deep solemn expression on their faces, until Leo broke the silence.

"…Whatever happens, whether we succeed or failed, always know: My love will always be with you, and so proud of the flyer you've become." He whispered to her, pressing a finger to his lips and laying that same finger to her forehead, gently transferring a kiss to her.

In response, she crawled down his arm and nuzzled her head underneath his jaw, making low clicking sounds.

 _ **"…I love you, Leonardo… I'll always be grateful for you raising me into your family and saving me from the Kraang."**_ Her voice cracked a little, but was nowhere near to shedding tears of her own. After all, she knows that Death is part of Life and, learned, that those you care about are gone from this world, don't want you to mourn for their passing, but to remember the happy times spent together and experienced.

After hearing Michelangelo crawling through, Leonardo gently pulled her away.

"Return to the Lair, Little Kara." He whispered, raising his arm in the air. "And, no matter what happens, remain underground… Should anything happen, watch over  _our_  flock."

The raven/crow-hybrid nodded her head and, spreading her wings, took off into the sky and made an immediate direction to the secret shaft for the Lair… Letting out a loud, strong call into the night's sky.

Leonardo bowed his head before going into the ventilator, her words echoing in his head.

 _ **"Kamiyo, watashi no kyōdai-tachi ni chikara o ataete kudasai**_ (God, give power to my brothers) _ **!**_ _ **"**_

* * *

 **Inside TCRI** **…**  
Inside the building was just as they left it, except for a few things: First, the air wasn't polluted with the toxic-like gas that they, mostly, breathe on their planet. And two, that lava-rock monster they've encountered stood guard over the portal, as a few Kraangdroids continued circling the perimeters near by the portal device.

Above in the rafters, the four turtles eyed the device that's underneath them. Staring at the portal below them, brought deep pain to the leader in blue and the orange-masked turtle of a heavy reminder to what happens when active.

 _'I wish you were still here with us, Rip Jaws.'_ He thought, pulling out the Omniparticle Disintegrator that was strapped underneath his swords' scabbards.  _'This is for you and the sacrifice you've made for Earth, Brother.'_

**_Also, for harm and destruction Enemies caused to All-Life, Natural Balance and Earth, herself._ **

_And, lastly, a little payback to Shredder for allying himself with aliens threatening to ruin our world._

Leo smirked at the two's response, before lining up the shot.

"Okay, guys, this all ends in three  _-He turned the_ _Omniparticle Disintegrator on.-_ two  _-His finger slowly pulling on the trigger, powering up the blast.-_ One."

The moment he said it, he released the trigger, firing the shot to the center of the portal… Only, instead of a big expansion bubble before it shrinks and pops like a bubble, a shield of light-purple energy covered the portal device, indicating a force field has saved the machine from being disintegrated.

A stunned look appeared on his face, before it got replaced with a scowl.

 _'_ ** _Chikushō_** (Damn it) _!'_  He cursed out.  _'We should've suspected they would install a force field to the portal, since our last break in.'_

_ Shouldn't Donnie had come up with some device, in case this certain scenario would occur? _

That thought angered Leo more, turning to his Genius brother.

"Don, didn't you checked through their files about them upgrading their portal device with a forcefield?"

Donatello had a dumbfounded look on his face when he saw the blast didn't do anything to the portal, that it shifted to a nervous, embarrassed expression when he heard his brother growl at him.

"…I, uh…  _Might've_  forgotten to do that, when I was focusing on upgrading Metalhead's equipments and improving the autopilot to the Shellraiser*..?" Was his answer, before a bunch of Kraang came up to see their hiding spots and start shooting their weapons at them.

"Anyone got a Plan 'B'?" Raphael questioned, glaring down at the Kraang releasing fire at them as they took shelter from the rafters shielding them from the blast, before a low, deep growl from behind caught their attention. They turned and saw that it was the lava-rock monster, who made itself come to their level and ready to deliver a punch to them.

Leonardo was the first to react.

"Scatter!" He yelled at his brothers, before jumping forward the moment the monster landed massive hit to the rafters. He ran up it's arm and jumped off it's shoulder, landing to the ground.

The leader in blue glared down at the Omniparticle Disintegrator in his hands, hearing the few beeps that informed him that it's charging up before it could be used again.

_'It's bad enough it needs ten seconds to recharge, but I also have a limit to how many times I can fire a blast before the power dies.'_

_Behind you!_

He looked up, a bit taken by surprise to see the lava-rock monster behind him and relies to his reflexes to dodge from being stepped on by it's foot. It then proceeded on stomping its feet to him, as he backed himself up until he felt his shell lay against the wall.

The beeps went faster, telling him it's almost ready to be used again, as his wide eyes stared up at the lava-rock monster and saw it pull back it's right foot.

 _'Come on. Come on!'_  He thought, fear racing when the foot got closer.

_*Ping!*_

**_Now!_ **

Not wasting any time, he pulled the trigger and let loose. The blast made contact with it's shin, blowing it's leg right off and forcing it to lose balance. It leaned against the wall and hunched over the turtle, which Leonardo immediately went through it's legs when it opened it's mouth to release lava.

As it charged up, he turned his attention to Donatello, who was shielding his shell with a Kraangdroid.

"Donnie, how's that Plan 'B' coming?" He called out, watching as the creature's leg and parts of it's shin rolled themselves back to their place.

"I'm thinking." The purple-masked turtle replied, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the four Kraangdroids firing at his shell and hunched over by the continuous push of the blasts.

The blue-masked turtle didn't approve his brother's answer, as he was brought back to the rock monster making it's way back to him.

"Think  _faster_." He ordered, charging up the Omniparticle Disintegrator for a third time and blasting it's arm off.

"I can probably hack into the Kraang system if you'd give me enough time!"

Staring at the arm that made it's way back to it's user but not yet reconnected, Leonardo jumped in the air towards the creature, launched himself off it's chest and kicked the arm, with all his strength, towards the direction of his brother and making it land on the four Kraangdroids. He landed back to the ground and, after pulling out Musashi to swipe at two more Kraangdroids, made his way to his brother.

"There, now go. We'll cover you." He told his brother and the two separated, with the Genius turtle heading for the main computer and the leader in blue deciding to distract the creature by keeping it's arm away.

Every time the limb would attempt to roll back to it's user, the humanoid/wolf-turtle would force it away, all the while dodging Kraangdroids and the lava-rock monster attacking him for it's arm back. He made sure to keep visual watch for his brothers, ensuring they were holding their own and to be ready if they're getting overwhelmed.

_**Pup must focus own fight. Pup fights most threat in area. Keep away from Kins.** _

Leonardo didn't respond to his Instinct, for he had to keep his attention on the creature that tries to squish him like a bug.

_Thanks to Don, for not thinking ahead, that the guys are fighting for their lives. And worse? The_  Disintegrator _is running low on power._

True to his Conscience's claim, the Omniparticle Disintegrator has been making less noise, warning the turtle that It's running out of power and will no longer be of use to destroy the portal, if he keeps using it on the lava-rock monster.

That wasn't all they were running out on. A minute ago, he saw Raphael wasting away his supply of weapons he brought on a single Kraangdroid, while protecting Donatello, who's still working on the force field. From what Leo is seeing, so far, Michelangelo is the only one holding his own in battle.

 _'Never thought I'd see that day ever come, until now.'_ He thought, feeling pride for the youngest Hamato brother, before turning back to his opponent and jumped at to dodge a large-fist bashing to where he last stood.

He pulled the trigger, forcing the Omniparticle Disintegrator to activate and to charge up, which was now delaying to respond to it's user's command.

"Come on  _-The monster slammed it's fist at the turtle, twice, who somersaulted away by the two attacks.-_ Come on!"

Finally, after over a minute, it finally started to power up and, when getting back on his feet, released the shot to the whole arm. After the blast, Leonardo barely heard it make any beeping sounds, a clear sign that it's nearing the end of being done.

"The disintegrator's running out of power." He informed his brothers, silently telling Donnie to hurry up with the force field.

"Guys, look!" Michelangelo called out, pointing a finger for his big brothers to look at the portal... Which was activating and all three connectors lifting up, readying to shine a light-purple energy to create the portal.

_Whatever's going to come out of the portal, is going to be here soon._

**_Omega-Brother Donatello must hurry!_ **

_'We can't pressure him any more than he's already under. All we can do right now, is hold off this creature and keep fighting the Kraang.'_

_*Thump*_

Metal making contact with metal alerted the turtle that a Kraangdroid landed behind him, but it's too focused on the disintegrator that wasn't charging as quickly he wanted it to... Until a heavy stomp, shattered metal and a dying screech from a Kraang pulled his attention to turn to the creatures that, without any hesitation,  _killed_ one of it's master.

A few Kraang that aren't in Kraangdroid bodies but, what appears to be ball-shape forms of flyers, came down from the sky towards Leonardo, forcing the turtle to pull out Kamiizumi to cut through the flyers and kick a third Kraang at the lava-rock monster.

***Ping!***

The Omniparticle Disintegrator alerted the turtle it finished charging. So, after launching himself in the air and landing on the creature's chest, planting the blaster the center, for the fourth things, Leo released a blast to his opponent.

Rather than losing a limb... The monster lost  _all_ his limbs, his head the only piece of himself remains connected to his chest and midsection. Lava and rock parts scattered on the floor, with the blue-masked turtle pushed back to land beside Michelangelo.

_Think that did it?_

_'Doubtful. Even if we severe it's head from his body, it'll still be alive and his limbs will still react to get back together to become a whole body.'_

Just as he speculated, the scattered remains of it's limbs forced themselves to move back to the creature, reconfiguring themselves to become whole.

"I forgot he can do that." Mikey said to keep, started and a bit creeped out when one of it's hands crawled over it's body to go back to it's let-arm.

Leo glanced down at the disintegrator, not hearing any sound that it's charging at all.

"Not good, not good..." He muttered, before turning to Donatello. "Any moment will be great, Donnie."

A few seconds later, he got his wish.

"I got it!" Donatello announced, his invention signaling it finished is purpose, by popping out a bottle headed hula girl.

The forcefield covering the portal lit up and sparked for a few seconds, then immediately powered down.

"Yes! All hail me!" The genius turtle cheered in his success.

...Which immediately got ignore when the three connectors shot a beam of light, creating thick, black cloud over there heads. All the Kraang in the room halt in their attack, awed by their invention sending out it's energy to the two antenna point on top of TCRI... Through the sky, pulling a giant metal-ball like ship to Earth.

"Holy giant floating shippy-ship." It may not be anywhere near a profanity word, but to the youngest turtle, it was cleary to a swear word on how freaked out he was.

The instant they saw the metal-ball from the windows, the Kraang rallied, forcing the turtles to regroup behind the portal for shelter from their blasters.

"Leo, do the zippy-zappy thing now!" The orange-masked turtle cried, huddling himself behind his big brother's shell.

The leader in blue stared down at the disintegrator in his hand, praying for a miracle to have it be able to use one more blast before it dies on them.

"Come on... Come on... Come on...!"

***...Ping!***

It made the sound and, with relief, aimed the charge of blast for the portal.

"This ends now!" He yelled, pulling the trigger.

...Until, instead of a shot... The charge died and a small trail of smoke escaped.

Fear gripped his heart, just as it has its hold on his brothers when they stared down at the no longer functioning Omniparticle Disintegrator.

"What just happened?!" Donatello questioned, not believing what just happened.

"The batteries must've died." Leo growled out, angered at the sudden down turn of luck for them.

_Either dead, or overloaded from being used multiple times straight._

"And we'll be joining 'em unless someone thinks of something!" Raphaels stated, taking notice of the Kraang coming in closer and, using an unused Kraangdroid as a sheild to protect them from the blasts.

"What's Plan 'C', Leo?" Donnie asked, fear rising when the lava-rock monster finished putting itself back together and slowly made its way towards them.

The humanoid-wolf/turtle's mind was racing, desperately looking for a Plan C to take out the portal... Then, his Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes caught the power cell on the otherside of the portal.

 _'Don once said it holds enough power to keep the city going for years. Does that mean...?'_ "Donnie, what happens if I ruptured the power cell?"

"The whole place would go up, with us in it!" His brother's panicking response to his question, made him make the immediate decision to that as their Plan "C".

_ You're actually going to through with it? We've talked about pulling suicidal stunts! _

_'There's no other option; it's either us, or the Earth.' He_  pulled out Musashi. "Go!" He ordered, taking the disintegrator with him.

His brothers eyed him with disbelief and concern.

"Whoa, Leo. You're not thinking what I think you're thinking!" There was instant regret in his voice for telling his brother about the power cell. The feeling changed to horror when Leo took off in the battle zone. "He's thinking it!" He screamed what was going through Raph and Mikey's head, before making an immediate run for the rafters to escape from where they came from.

Leonardo attacked with blinding speed and raw power, avoiding the blasters as if they were nothing but dodgeballs being thrown at him.

The first three Kraang he took down, didn't had a chance to fire their weapons at him. That drew all of the Kraang's attention on him and making them forget about his brothers escaping. His next two victims, shooting from the upper floor of the room, ended up severely cut by Musashi, resulting in a slow, agonizing death for them.

Finding himself at the exact level needed to position himself for the power cell, he put away his sword to firmly keep his grip on the Omniparticle Disintegrator.

_'It may no longer be working, but the batteries should have enough energy to spark up a blast when combined with the power cell.'_

**_Pup understand the consequences... Know Pup can die, in process?_ **

His hands clenched tightly to the disintegrator, time feeling it's gone slow for a moment.

_'If it means we stop the invasion, then I don't regret putting my life on the line for the humans... For Earth... For my **Pack**.'_

With no more interruptions and, without any hesitation, he launched himself in the air.

"Huuuurrrraaaahhhh!" He pulled the disintegrator over his head and, when almost touching the ground, slammed the barrel of the weapon through the glass case of the power cell.

Electricity sparked through the weapon. The beam of light dying down the a second after the electricity travelled off the disintegrator.

The portal made a high-wind sound... Then, a gush of wind forced the Kraang and the lava-rock monster backwards. Leonardo having to already take off for the rafters, before the machine exploded in a cloud of think, pinkish-black smoke.

Just as he made it to the ventilator, the force of wind from the explosion pushed him off his feet and towards the windows. He crashed through the glass, a few shards embedding into his arms when he pulled them up to shield his head.

Soon after that, the beam of light came falling back down to TCRI... Creating a larger explosion to cover the whole roof of the building, followed by a thicker cloud of smoke.

The polluted air around him was suffocating, choking when he inhaled the smoke around him and lightheaded. It wasn't until he felt himself falling and being pulled away from the smoke, did he quickly remembered that he's falling towards his death.

His heart pounded in his hearing, air feeling trapped in his lungs that he was able to breathe in and his arms throbbing from the shards digging into his skin… And yet, despite being scared the closer he got to the unforgiving ground… He wasn't afraid that he's going to die.

 _'…It's okay…'_ He gently reassured himself, slowly closing his eyes as he curled his arms over his face.  _'If saving the Earth cost me my life… I give it, gladly.'_ A single tear marked his mask.  _'Forgive me, you guys.'_

He waited for the moment for his fall to break, to feel his plastron and shell crack like an egg when colliding with the hard concrete of the street, wondering if he'll see his entire life flash before his eyes or if his death will be quick and painless… Hoping, in some way, Tang Shen will be the first to welcome him to the Afterlife and present him to the honorable Hamato Clan.

He waited for Death to embrace him, with open arms… However, Fate has intervene.

"Ahhh… Gotcha!" A voice called out and soon, Leonardo found himself in the strong hold of his twin brother, Raphael, and watch himself be pulled up inches from the ground and back in the air.

The blue-masked turtle looked up at his brother, relief to see him all right and having his Turtle Glider on, saving the both of them from falling to their deaths.

"In your face, gravity!" Raph mocked, keeping a firm grip on Leo's arms as they soared through the air.

Leo let out a deep exhale of breath, his heart no longer racing.

 _ **"**_ _ **Arigatō**_ , Raph." He sighed out his gratitude.

"Anytime, Buddy." The red-masked turtle replied, soon joining up with Donatello and Michelangelo, both of them, also, in their Turtle Gliders.

"I can't believe it. We saved the world!" Don exclaimed, his mind blown from the thought that they actually saved the entire planet.

"Yeah! That wasn't so hard, was it?" Mikey's statement, though was a harmless question of being proud that they saved the world, made doubt and fear travel through the blue-masked turtle's heart.

_'Why does it feel this isn't the end of the invasion?'_

_ Look up… Because, there's your answer. _

His Conscience, not sounding the least happy or proud, had Leonardo look up when he notice a large shadow covering part of the city and when he did… His eyes widened in horror.

The giant metal-ball ship that was being pulled in from the portal… It appeared before them.

Immediately, the three turtles forced themselves to get as far away from the ship as possible.

"I think I speak for all of us, when I say… Ahhhh! Ahhhhhh, ahhhhhhhhhh!" Mikey screamed, unable to even try to hide how freaked out he was from the sight of the ship.

While they continued flying away from the ship, Raphael helped his twin get on his shell and have him hold on to the handle-bars to stay airborne with him and the others. Getting a better spot to view the ship, Leonardo glared up at the vessel.

 _'All our efforts… Has gone to waste, now that the end of all life of Earth is here.'_ He hated himself for thinking such defeat, but when you're staring at what's to be end of humanity's reign, you can't help but feel such thought to being exact.

_No! You mustn't think that! You and your brothers hadn't been well prepared as you thought you guys were!_

_'And how does that justify on what's happening right now?'_

"What the heck is that thing?!" Raph questioned, trying to stay focus on steering his glider and not give in to staring behind him to look at the size of the ship.

"No doubt, the Technodrome the Kraang has been talking about." Leo answered, tightening his grip on the metal-part of the handles.

"Well, maybe it doesn't have any weapons. Does it look like it has weapons?" The red-masked turtle asked the blue-masked turtle, hoping that they won't have to deal with dodging attacks that'll have them blown from the sky.

The humanoid-wolf/turtle noticed parts of the ship, that had antennae-looking designs, slowly moving until the tips were pointing at them… Then, almost instantly before he saw it coming, forced Raphael to jerk to their right when multiple light-pink beams shot down where they just were.

"Does that answer your question?" He replied, before more beams of plasma-blasts rained down at them and the turtles with their gliders made their attempts to get out of the Technodrome's line of vision.

Rapid fire of beams surrounded the four brothers, forcing the three, in their panic, to make an attempt to fly high into the clouds to hide. Donatello and Michelangelo soon learned that was a mistake, while Leonardo, able to time the shots, pulled Raphael back to dodge and make him go down.

Through the commotion and chaos, Mikey tried to follow Donnie's lead and veered himself in the opposite direction of the current. In doing so, the fans on his Turtle Glider were forced to function the other direction and rammed him against the genius turtle.

"Don! Mikey!" Leonardo cried out, watching the two youngest turtles to crash land on one of the rooftops.

"What now?" Raph started drifted down, but the eldest turtle kept him firmly straight in the air.

"We need to land! Get back to the ground!" He answered, forcing his brother to keep moving now that all the blasters from the Technodrome are completely focused on them.

"And how do you suppose we do that, when we got a Kraang-version of the Death Star on our tails?"

The red-masked turtle got his answer: Because the Turtle Gliders aren't well built for maneuverability and specifically made for temporary flying, his glider began jerking when both of the turtles continued dodging the plasma-blasts. And with the help of the windspeed and one of the blast slicing through one of the wings, the twins were pulled down by gravity to the street and slammed their shells against a building's wall, with Raph landing in a dumpster and Leo on a thrown out mattress that belonged to a homeless man, who was running on the street with a cardboard sign held up to show the words: "THE END IS NEAR!"

Leonardo slowly picked himself off the mattress, wincing from his side pulsing with pain and digging his fingers into the mattress.

_ Must've fractured your ribs from the landing impact. _

He groaned from the feeling at his side and the throbbing in his chest, but pushed it aside to help Raphael out of the dumpster, slowly being gentle to not agitate his ribs. Donatello and Michelangelo came out from around the corner, relief to see their big brothers got out from the crossfire.

"Are you guys all right?" Don asked the two, hoping that neither sustained any serious injuries.

"Been better." Raph answered, looking rather nauseous from the landing but apparently not sustaining any repercussion like Leo.

Above them, the four watch saw the Technodrome had ceased firing and, very slowly, heading for the Hudson River.

"What do we do now?" The genius turtle questioned their leader in blue, who was fighting the urge to not grab his left-side as he glared at the giant vessel above him.

_'Our attempt to stop them at TCRI, has failed. Now, all of New York is running amok and the Kraang are continuing their next phase of their invasion plan.'_

**_Because of failure, that stops Pup from saving Earth? All Life?_ ** _Own **Pack?**_

_'…No… But, we don't have any idea how to stop their plan, now.'_

_Head back to the Lair. Father may know how to assist. Also, Donnie could try hacking their system to learn what can be done to stop the Technodrome._

_'…Very well.'_ "We need to talk to Sensei." He answered, jerking his head to instruct them to follow him. "Come on."

* * *

 **Now Back at the Lair…  
** With the confusion and fear going on around the city, no humans paid the turtles any mind when they ran through the streets to finding a manhole-cover. However, because they were at the north part of the city, it took them sixteen minutes to get back to the Lair on foot. During that time, Donatello had received word from Metalhead that it returned to the Lair, with the Shellraiser, minutes before the Technodrome came through the portal.

While it was good to hear that their vehicle and his invention returned, with little damage, it didn't help the discomfort in Leonardo's stomach when they reached home. He sensed it being almost empty, save for Spike, who greeted Raphael from the couch… Kirby O'Neil, who made an attempt to attack Michelangelo when searching for Splinter in the dojo, and Karasu, who got injured when attacking the human in her attempt to remove a small-metal device attached to the back of his neck and alerting Mikey of his would-be attacker.

They were able to subdue the forty-eight year-old father and remove the device, which Don believes it to being a mind controlling device. While waiting for the human to regain conciseness, which was only for a few minutes, Leo treated Karasu's injury, which was a sprained wing. She wasn't too thrilled to have him wrap her wing to a point she can't open it or move it around much, but understand that this was the only way for her left-wing to heal properly if she wants to still be able to fly.

Once he gathered his thoughts, Kirby informed the turtles with bad news: The Kraang had formed an alliance with Shredder and, thanks to the mind controlling device that the Kraang implanted on him to do their biddings, aided their enemy hand his own daughter over to the Kraang and now in the Technodrome.

On their television, the news was on to inform all viewing audiences of the chaos going on and that the Kraang are now abducting every creature of New York with small, sphere-shaped vessels that look like dark-versions of Pokéballs.

**"Kraang must collect human specimen for Kraang."**

Everywhere they can see on their TV, they watch how the small-spheres would snap open and snatch men, women, children, even animals before heading back up to the Technodrome. The sight before them, was sickening to the turtles.

Leonardo turned to his brothers.

"We're on our own for this," he informed them. "Sensei left the Lair, most likely fighting with Oroku Saki in an attempt to save April, and all of humanity is being picked off as livestock to be part of Kraang's experimentation… We know what we have to do."

* * *

 **Above the Surface World** **…**  
"Ahhhhhh!" A blonde-female screamed, having to fall on her own feet in her attempt to run from the spheres, only to end up getting captured and lifted towards the Technodrome.

The blue-masked turtle wanted to attack the sphere and release her, but reminded himself that he and his brothers must focus on the plan to get into the Technodrome and save April, before the Kraang use her to help them take over Earth. And, in doing so, will save  _all_  who've been captured by Kraang.

They hid behind some parked cars, finding eight Kraangdroids standing next to one of the pods. No doubt, they're looking for stragglers who're hiding on the streets or taking shelter in buildings.

Eyeing the eight Kraangdroids, all wearing the normal non-blue skins endoskeleton, informed Leo that they don't have high defense against their weapons like the Kraang in TCRI do. He instantly knew how to get that pod.

He turned to Raph.

"Raph, you have eight new toys to play with… Have fun." He whispered to his twin, who smiled evilly from the news of their being eight Kraang to demolish and, without any hesitation, went out in the open and attacked. Leo turned to Donatello. "Don, once we aboard the pod, try hacking into it's system to gain control over it before we enter the Technodrome."

The moment he finished telling the purple-masked turtle what to do, Raphael finished 'playing' with the Kraang, all the endoskeletons damaged and the Kraang unconscious from being kicked or punched. With nothing standing in their way, the rest of the turtles got on the sphere-pod. Don immediately connected his T-Phone to the pod's mainframe to active it and take them to the Technodrome, without informing the Kraang inside what it's bringing into their ship.

Once they got through the entrance, once inside, they saw other capture pods in front of them, all of which going down a long hallway. Some of the spheres ended up being grabbed from the sides, possibly taking their captive victims to some holding facility before Kraang starts performing their experimentations on them.

"Get ready, guys." He told them, preparing them to get out of their pod. "On three. One… Two…  _-Raph pulled at the latch, already getting it to open before his brothers were about to jump out.-_  Three!"

The moment they all jumped out… They found themselves floating in the middle of the air, instead of landing on the ground. This is was something none of them were expecting to happen.

"I think the Kraang forgot to pay their gravity bill." Mikey replied, before he got grabbed by the back of his shell through one of the slots. "Ahhh!"

The three were stunned, worried on where their baby brother is being taken… Only for him to be pushed right back into the hallway through another slot, seemingly rejecting him.

"It appears the Kraang have generated Anti-gravitons." Donatello deducted, slowly turning upside down while in the air.

"You guys, I'm gonna throw up." Mikey warned, his stomach agitated from hanging awkwardly in the middle of the air. "Or down. Or maybe sideways. But whatever the cause, I'm majorly gonna throw."

Without noticing, the pod they came in started moving again, slamming against the orange-masked turtle and pushing him forward.

"We need to keep going." Leo reminded, making a grab for the left-corner of the pod. "Let's go."

Don and Raph, also, grabbed for the pod and continued to move forward. Their journey, seeing a few pods be snatched through the other slots along the way.

_ Kraang, above you! _

Leonardo's ears picked up hovering sounds above them, seeing three Kraang in Kraang-flyers going down the rows of pods that just entered the Technodrome.

_'We couldn't had set off an alarm. Why are they here?'_

_**Precautionary measure. Enemies being certain none trespass territory, possibly learned from building.** _

Leo lightly tapped his knuckle on the pod, gaining his brothers' attention and pointed a finger up, seeing the Kraang coming their way. Before they thought about either attacking them, hide inside the pod or silently move to the bottom, their pod got pulled out from the group and the four immediately let go, laying low to the right-side of the tunnel they're in.

They watch the three Kraang continued on with their observation task, relieved they didn't get caught… At least, to Leo, not yet.

"Yo, zero-g is banging." Mikey whispered, his stomach no longer upset and getting used to floating in the air, hanging upside down. "The Kraang should turn this into a carnival ride."

Leo gave him a sympathetic look.

_'I'm glad he has ways to stay calm in situations like this, by coming up with child-like imaginations… Unfortunately, his theory of making open-minded comments, along with his ADHD, makes me wonder if he'll learn to balance his maturity and unruly behavior in serious moments like this.'_

_ At least he has his way to avoid stress taking over his mood… As long as he doesn't over think his thoughts, like that one time when you guys first fought Victor Falco. _

_'…True…'_ "Mikey, not sure if they have any intention on doing so, when they're surely interested on using it to destroying the Earth." He gently regarded.

"It could do both." The orange-masked turtle stated, still having some fun on hanging in the air.

_"Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!"_

A high-pitch sound of a human's scream faintly echoed down the tunnels, all four of the turtles recognizing the sound of the voice.

"It's April!" Donatello exclaimed, concern for the sixteen year-old making him forget to stay quiet or risk alerting the Kraang that they're in the Technodrome.

"Can you say that a little louder?" Raphael whispered, not noticing the snake-like sensors peeking in their hiding spot. "I don't think the entire Technodrome heard you." Behind him, the sound of growling, gurgling, screech sounds caught his attention. There, he and his brothers saw a whole group of Kraang floating in front of the tunnel. He knew he should've seen that coming. "Never mind. They did."

They all pulled out their weapons and, all together, charged into battle.

Leonardo pushed himself to soar straight to the top, shoving five Kraang to the side and cutting through two of their flyers with his swords. He just barely made it to the wall before he started drifting a bit in the air, bending closely to the wall above another tunnel to prepare himself to launch right back into the middle of the room.

_You're starting to get the hang of it?_

_'Not really, but I'll adapt.'_

**_Imagine being like training, with Hatchling-Sister. Incorporate movement in Pup's strikes; gather Pup's self-wind, use environment and work alongside Kins._ **

Three Kraang floated towards him, each shooting a beam of plasma-energy towards him. None of their attacks were close to the blue-masked turtle and none even got the chance to hit him when he pushed off and sliced all three of their flyers. As he reached the other side of the wall, another Kraang charged up to get him from behind, only for Leo to jump backwards over it's head and landing on top of a fifth Kraang that didn't see him coming when trying to make a grab for Donatello.

He forced the Kraang to turn, jerking it's body to hit the button to shoot… The blasts hit the fourth Kraang, it's flyer landing harshly to the ground. The fifth Kraang didn't have time to response when the blue-masked turtle thrusted Kamiizumi through it from over it's head, jumping off and landing on the ground.

At the same time he made contact with the ground, the ground and the whole room began shaking all around them, like they were going through a storm to imitate an Earthquake. There was also an odd pulsing sound of energy circulating underneath his feet.

_'That doesn't feel right.'_

_Probably isn't right, at all. You and your brothers must finish your fight with them, and go rescue April!_

He launched himself up in the air and twisted himself, cutting at two Kraang Flyers from the middle of the two. Donatello was coming down above him and the two shifted themselves to land their feet with each other, thrusting to opposite directions.

_**Beta-Brother Raphael acquire assistance.** _

When he landed to the wall, Leo saw his twin floating helplessly in the middle of the air, his body slowly turning him upside down while he tried moving with his legs, as two Kraang open fired on the red-masked turtle.

The blue-masked turtle shot himself straight towards his brother.

"Ya!" He caught him and the two landed on the other side of the hallway, before he jumped back in the air and cut one of the Kraang Flyer's in half, leaving the second Kraang for his twin. Below him, he saw Donatello free Michelangelo from another two Kraang that held him down and rejoined the fight.

With Okinawa, Mikey snagged a Kraang that was opening fire on Raphael with his weapon's chains, swinging it in the air before tossing it to the side of the wall. The last four Kraang came down, all opening fire at the turtles, all jumping and twisting in the air to dodge the attacks. Each of the three younger brothers took a Kraang, leaving the last one for Leonardo to strike from below and slamming the Kraang into the ceiling, crushing it to death when blood glided down from the cracks of the Kraang Flyer.

He floated back down to the ground beside Raphael, feeling a bit better to stop moving in the middle of the air.

_'Anybody would think this would be fun to experience, but I'm more comfortable to remain **on**  the ground.'_

**_Natural for Pup to prefer ground over chance for flight; Land-Creatures since birth more attach to Earth than Sky-Soarers._ **

_"Aaaaaahhhhhhhh~!"_

**_"Haah, ha ha ha ha!"_ **

Both Leonardo and Raphael heard the two voices, the first one, once again, being April but the second being completely unknown coming from beneath them. The red-masked turtle thrusted Kayura into the panel and pulled it up, a rectangular-hole in it's place that's big enough to let them float through.

He put Musashi in his mouth to allow one of his hands to grab on to the edge, to follow behind Raph, before putting away Kamiizumi into it's sheath to use both his hands to grab on to the large wire underneath him. His brothers, while he prefers to use the ground to climb, used the zero-gravity to jump a good portion of the gap of the ventilation shaft, leaving their big brother to follow from behind.

_ You gotta admit, with no gravity, it makes it easier to move through the vents and not make much sound. _

_'Perhaps, but it makes it difficult to grab on to anything and, if we're not careful, could have us hitting our shells against the ceiling to give ourselves away.'_ A slight trickling in his throat got him to let out a few, light coughing from his chest, before he continued forward.  _'It's a shame that the pressure point didn't help with keeping me from coughing, from my fractured ribs.'_

_Let's hope the pressure point to block the pain from your cracked ribs continues to block it, until you guys get back to the Lair and have Don check it out._

**"April O'Neil, you mind belongs to Kraang."** Being closer to the voice, it made it hard for Leo and his brothers to figure out if the voice belongs to a male or, possibly, a female-version of a Kraang.  **"Soon, your world will be ours."**

The voice was coming from the light ahead of them, where the wires extended down to.

Just as he was about to join his brothers to silently scale down the wires, a pulsing pain stopped Leonardo in his tracks.

"Haaah…!" He grunted, grasping his head with his right and clenching his eyes shut, feeling the pressure traveling throughout his head. Then, his eyes widened… No longer seeing what was before him, but at flashing images that danced before his eyes.

* * *

_They were running for the pod ahead of them._

_The area around them is slanted._

_Something big was chasing them from behind, but he couldn't make out what._

_**"All of you, will die here!"** _

_**…The time has come… To U-…** _

* * *

"Leo… Leo…!" Raphael's whispered voice pulled his twin from what he and the others didn't see what the blue-masked turtle just saw. He shook his head, ridding away the slight change of vision and slowly followed his brothers down the wires.

…Below them, strapped on a metal-table, a helmet tightly clenching her head… Two, small mutagen canisters going through two of the tubes and into the helmet, is their human-friend: April O'Neil.

Before her, a very-large face of a Kraang. However, unlike the others, this Kraang has three hexagon metal-pieces  _embedded_  into it's head, pulsing and glowing

 **"Witness the end of your kind!"** He cheered, taking satisfaction of the torment the poor girl is going through.

Leonardo didn't wasted a second to give themselves away.

"Not if we can help it!" He purposely yelled, startling the Kraang to look up at their direction.

 **"The Turtles?!"** It cried, completely taken back to not be informed that their enemies are aboard the Technodrome with them, let alone be able to sense their presence in the first place.  **"Kraang will not be stopped by pathetic Mutants!"**

"At least we're not stupid aliens." Mikey replied, silently earning the approval of Leo for the comment towards the obvious leader of the Kraang race.

"Raph!"

By the call of his name by his leader, Raphael jumped down from the wires and thrusted both his feet in the complete middle of Kraang's face.

 **"OWWWWWWW!"** Not completely prepared for Raph's attack, the Kraang had to endure the whole blunt force that coursed through it's head before the excruciating pain forced it to temporary unconsciousness.

At the same time, while Donatello went to release April from the metal-table, Leonardo cut at the wires connected to the helmet she's wearing, stopping it's process from pouring more electricity into her mind.

The rumbling sound of energy that went on, almost immediately, went dead silent. Around them, Leo can feel the feeling of gravity returning, a major relief for him.

The latches that held April to the table finally released her. Donnie gently held her up. She slowly lifted her head up and saw all the turtles around, making a small-smile appear on her face.

"You guys are my heroes." She muttered to them before resting her head on the genius turtle's left-shoulder, still drained from what she had to endure and too weak to move on her own.

The purple-masked turtle giggled nervously, blushing at the girl leaning against him and taking her comment of all of them to heart… Though, mostly for himself than he and his brothers.

"Hey, Chuckles. We gotta get out of here." Raphael pulled his younger-brother from his precious moment he's having with their friend, who was barely capable to stand on her own feet if Don and Leo aren't keeping her steady.

As he helped her get on Donnie's shell, being the tallest and more capable to keep her off the ground to regain some of her strength, Leonardo noticed a slight twitching coming from the large-Kraang's face.

_It's starting to come out of it!_

"Let's move it!" He ordered, scaling the wires alongside and re-entering the ventilation… Before tremors from beneath them made them fall flat on their shells and metal bending outside and behind them made them realize that the large-Kraang was coming for them.

Not thinking of the chances on running into more Kraang, Leonardo thrusted Musashi above them and sliced open a new exit for them to get out of the ventilator.

As soon as they all got out, the ventilator caved in on itself… Crushed by a large metal-vine curling around it… Then, to their startled fear, got pulled aside to show a large lime-green eye.

 **"Stop the Turtles, and retrieve April O'Neil, for Kraang."** The voice of the large-Kraang called out, knowing it's followers are close by to hear their leader and stop the turtles in their tracks.

Immediately after it finished it's sentence, Michelangelo brought down Lee to slam directly into Kraang's eye, earning a screech of pain.

To their left, four Kraangdroid charged for them, shooting their blasters.

Donatello saw a dark-tunnel to their right, silently hoping to being the way out.

"This way! Hurry!" He called out, leading his brothers down the hallway, trusting his brothers to shield himself and April from getting hit.

Then, just as they reached the end of the tunnel, light shining all around them, two more Kraangdroid opened fired in front of them.

Swiftly, Leonardo came before his younger-brother and, re-pulling Kamiizumi into the battle, cut through the endoskeletons' necks and leaving Raphael and Michelangelo to bring the Kraang down. Above them, five more Kraang in Kraang Flyers came down, firing their own blasters to try and stop them in their tracks.

They immediately scaled the walls, dodging the blasters as they made their decadence to the top of the room. One of the Kraang moved in towards Donnie and April, only for Leo to come in from above and deliver a powerful kick to send it crashing down to the main-computer of the Technodrome.

The damage to the computer was so intense, that before any of the four Kraangdroid or the remaining four Kraang in their flyers could do something with the damage, it exploded right in front of them. The explosion not only took them out, but also disabled it's control to keep the Technodrome steady, resulting for the room to slant and for the walls to become the floor.

While they had to stop for a moment to grab firmly to the wall as the ship took a new angle, a few Kraangdroids up ahead of them proceed to fire. The instant the wall became the ground, Leonardo and Raphael immediately took down before any of them hit their youngest brothers and April.

When he took down the last of them, the blue-masked turtle saw, possible half a mile away, a pod that's being unused.

 _'We're almost there! We can all make it out of here!'_ His heart beat with hope and put burst of energy into his legs, ignoring the exhaustion from fighting Kraang all night.

"Uh, Leo? We got company!" Michelangelo called out, drawing the leader in blue's attention to look behind him… And his heart to plummet to worry when he saw the large-Kraang coming up from behind, stopping in his tracks like the rest of the turtles did.

It was in a completely different endoskeleton they normally see other Kraang wear: Instead of resting in the abdomen section, it's face is in the chest-area. The metal-vine they saw earlier that crushed the ventilation, shows to being it's arms, with three clawed-fingers at the end. It's feet has three toes, though they were more rectangular than the clawed-fingers. And since it doesn't desire to have it customize to that of a human, there was no human-head. Only a smooth bump-head, with a three-pointed antenna on the top.

As it stomped it's way towards them, Leonardo and the rest of the turtles finally remembered that they needed to run and put as much distance from the Kraang as they can. The Kraang slammed it's feet hard on the panels that they stood on, hoping to stop them from moving forward. Donatello was ahead of them, not letting the Kraang to induce fear into him to prevent him from getting April out of the Technodrome. Raphael was hot on his trails, with Leonardo coming in from behind. Michelangelo, while still keeping up with his brothers, did lose his footing when a third foot landed nearly at his feet and had to twist himself to skid on his shell onto the next panel before shifting himself back on his feet.

Seeing that attempting to stomp on them like bugs wasn't going to be enough, the large-Kraang decided to use a different method. On top of it's head, the antenna began circulating the light-purple electricity that the Kraang seemed so fond of using to attack with when not having their blasters and, after it made a high-pitch sound, the electricity shot down in a wave of miniature lightning attacks.

None of the turtles got hit, but since it can glide from one panel to the next and if it gets too close, they'll be forced to stop from electricity coursing throughout their bodies.

Donatello, suddenly, saw the pod at the end of the path.

"Everyone, there's one last escape pod up ahead!" He informed, putting more energy into his legs, barely dodging the lightning attack that Kraang frantically sent out to them.

Leonardo's heart was banging in his ears, following a silent pattern in his steps as they neared the escape pod.

_'Keep running… Keep running…!'_

"Ohhhh!" Michelangelo's cry made the blue-masked turtle stop in his tracks. When he turned, he was stunned to no longer see Mikey anywhere, which immediately turned into completely fear when the large-Kraang leaned over to stare at the gap between the panels, aiming the antenna to attack with it's lightning.

_ Mikey! _

He didn't need take less of a second to know that his baby brother was going to be shish kebab, if he doesn't go save him. He didn't need a single thought for his body to run straight at Kraang and launch himself in the air, Kamiizumi grasped in both of his hands. It was all sheer instinct that pushed him to save the life of the orange-masked turtle.

"Get away from my brother!" He yelled, brining his sword down and slicing the smooth-bump off from the large-Kraang's endoskeleton.

The lightning scattered at the damage area, before it fell from it's post and shattered into scrap-metal when it hit the bottom underneath Michelangelo.

Leonardo put away his sword, reaching a hand out to his brother.

"Mikey, hurry." He urged his brother, who brought out Lee as an extension of his arm for his big brother to help him pull him out and back onto the panel.

The younger-turtle clearly needed a moment to catch his brother, but the blue-masked turtle knew that now wasn't that time or moment to do so. The large-Kraang slowly raised itself off the ground, glaring at the two.

 **"There's nowhere for you to run, Mutants."** It stated, watching the two make a run for the escape pod before it slowly stomped it's way towards the group. A sinister smile spread on it's face, believing it had the upper-hand that the instant they take off, it'll make a grab for the pod and will soon have April O'Neil back in it's grasp, to be re-used to take over the Earth.  **"All of you will die here!"**

The instant it said that last line, Leonardo ceased his running, turning to face the large-Kraang make it's way towards his teammates. His  _brothers,_ and human-sister he claimed as his own kin… Those he swore, by a sacred blood-oath, to protect from any harm that dares threatens them.

"Leo! Come on!" Donatello called out, helping Michelangelo into the pod before he and the others turned to their leader in blue, who didn't budge from his spot before the large-Kraang.

_'Even if we do make it out, that **thing**  will only follow us out of the Technodrome and continue it's attempt to kill us, and take April back with it…'_

_**Question of task: What Pup shall do?** _

Leo knew that they can't take down that thing, even when it no longer has it's weapon to produce lightning down at them; they're all completely exhausted, carrying some signs of injuries from TCRI, and they can't put April any more in danger than what she just went through. Even if they stayed behind and sent her to escape on her own, nobody would be around to protect her when she reaches the city, especially when she's unable to protect herself at the moment.

They had no chance of success, of winning in a fight against the Leader of the Kraang.

_**"With the world at stake, the only thing of importance is that you complete your mission. No matter what you have to sacrifice… Or** who **."**_

Master Splinter's voice echoed in his head, reminding him of their last conversation they had before they headed out for TCRI. Something he hoped to never had to do on the mission… But now, it seems there was no other choice.

_ Is there really no other way…? Must you go through with it? _

Leo slowly pulled out Musashi and Kamiizumi from their scabbards, pulling part of his lips back to flash his fangs to the Kraang before him. A loud, snarl producing from his chest, ignoring the throbbing and the urge to cough when he gave away his primal warning sound.

_'I must. We're all out of options…'_

the large-Kraang brought down both of it's arms down. In that instant, Leonardo launched himself in the air and rammed his entire body against the Kraang's face, forcing the both of them to fall backwards. The moment it went down and his enemy having to go through another pulse of pain traveling through it's body, the blue-masked turtle grabbed for one of it's arms and forced it to move underneath the Kraang's face, twisting it to twine with it's other-arm*.

Behind him, one of it's feet raised it's thick-clawed talons over his head.

"Leo!" Raphael called out, attempting to get out of the pod and go for his brother.

"No!" The eldest turtle called out, already knowing of the large talon-like feet attempting to attack him and, when it came down, stabbed Musashi as hard as he could through the metal. "Get out of here, now!"

His orders stunned the turtles and April, not believing what he's telling them to do.

"What are you talking about?!" What his shorter, but older-twin brother just told them to do, didn't seem to be processing at all in his mind.

"Dude, you can't do this!" Mikey stated, knowing that Leo can't take on the Leader of the Kraang on his own and that they can't just leave him behind.

The clawed-foot he stabbed his blade through raised itself up, pulling Leo with it, and tried snaring him into it's grasp.

"Just do it!" He yelled, locking metal with Kamiizumi to block the three claws from grabbing him.

Behind him, Kraang struggled to get back up, only to find it's arms crossed behind it's back and struggling to redo the twisted knot the turtle did to it's metal-limbs. Frustrated by his resistance, he flung the turtle off it's leg, only for the blue-masked turtle to land on his feet and launched right back onto it's damaged leg, stabbing both his blades through.

He turned his gaze to the others, desperation in his Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes.

"I can't hold it back any longer!" That was his final warning for them to get out of the Technodrome. To flee and save themselves… To make his  _sacrifice_  not go in vein, because they chose to waste time convincing him to join them when holding back a four ton Kraang.

The large-Kraang shook the turtle off it's leg and, this time, landed it's damaged leg on top of him, forcing a screech out from the turtle when it slammed against his cracked ribs, which are now, very likely, broken.

"Leo!" Raph reached out for the blue-masked turtle, his twin, his  _only_  big brother he has in life, ready to jump out of the pod and go save him.

…Only to have Donatello pull him back from behind to stay in the pod, as Michelangelo closed the lid of the pod to start it up.

"We gotta go now!" The genius turtle told his older-brother, hating himself for going along with their brother's plan to leave him in order to save themselves.

He, too, didn't want to leave behind his big brother. However, unlike his brothers, he knew that this was their only chance to flee and get April to safety, and that their leader was willing to stay behind to allow them that chance.

The large-Kraang, knowing the blue-masked turtle won't be able to break free from it's clutches, turned to the escape and struggled to unwind it's twisted arms that's been bound behind him. Just as it finally got it's arms free and extended one of them out to swipe at the pod, the damaged leg that held Leonardo down sparked and glitch, forcing the Leader of the Kraang to stumble and fall.

Free from the talon-like feet that pinned him down, Leonardo stared at his brothers and human-friend, watching them about to make their escape.

"Leonardo!" Raphael's voice called out, resting both his hands on the glass that prevented him from leaving the pod.

The humanoid-wolf/turtle offered them a solemn, sad smile. Sending them a silent message:  _I love you, all._

And immediately, the escape shot off like a rocket, taking the three turtles and human-girl out of the Technodrome and back towards the city… Leaving the blue-masked turtle behind.

He didn't regretted the decision to stay behind. Not an ounce of doubt in his heart or mind on his part to stay.

 _'They're safe, and out of Kraang's clutches.'_ He thought to himself, slowly getting to his feet as the large-Kraang got back to it's.  _'Just as soon as I take care of their leader, this nightmare will be over with.'_

The Kraang glared down at the turtle, growling lowly at him.

 **"You may think you have won, but this isn't the end of Kraang's plan."** It said to him, ignoring the strain in it's right-leg.  **"The Planet called: Earth, will belong to Kraang!"**

It whipped out one of it's arms towards him… Until the whole ship shook underneath their feet to force them to fall to their knees.

…Immediately following suit, they saw water rising from below.

Leonardo's eyes widened in fear.

 _'I need to get out of here, before the whole ship gets submerged in water!'_ He sheathed both his swords into their scabbard and started climbing for the exit… Only for a three-clawed hand to grab him by his shell and pull him back to face the large-Kraang.

It clenched it's hold on him, forcing out cries of pain when the pressure administered to his ribs worsened.

**"If Kraang goes down, then Kraang shall bring one of you Turtles down with Kraang!"**

The clawed-hand coiled itself even more, to the point of digging it's nails into the side where parts of his body isn't being protected by his shell and/or plastron.

Leonardo could only scream as the claws dug into his right-thigh and shoulder, along with his ribs being further damaged to possibly being shattered.

 _'I can't break free!'_  He thought, as he started coughing up blood. Below them, the water level rose.  _'I'm going to either drown, or be crushed to death by the Kraang…! I'm as good as dead!'_

_**…No, Pup…** _

His eyes widened to his Instinct's words.

_'What?'_

**_Death not embrace Pup, until Death comes, itself._ **

A weird pulsing thumped in his heart. It wasn't pain, nor did it feel like a flutter when his adrenaline would kick him. No, this pulsing was something else. Something foreign. Something that was lost to him... That was meant for  _him_.

_**It's time, Pup…** _

_'"Time"…? Time for what?'_

_**The time has come… To Unveil the Blood…** _

The pulsing grew stronger, banging against his chest. He let out a big gasp of air, his eyes growing small as they stare right past the Leader of the Kraang in front of him, who gave him an odd look when he suddenly stopped screaming in pain.

Just as it was about to question him… It was taken back, where one moment it was holding humanoid-turtle in it's grasp, then the next a black-blur went past it… Magenta-purple blood gushing out from three-diagonal lines on it's face.

It screeched in agony before kneeling on it's left-leg, covering it's face with it's left-arm. Through the blood that glided over his eyes, it turned to stare where it saw the black-blur go… Only it to swiftly appear before it's face and grabbed at it's left three-clawed hand, completely breaking it off with just a single, hard, bite.

The large-Kraang's eyes widened in horror on what it just saw, but was more appalled when it finally saw what the black-blur clearly was before it's eyes.

 **"…What… Are you?"** It gasped, forgetting of the blood gliding off it's face, that it just lost an arm, and of the water rising and surrounding it's body.

Because, standing tall before him, still having it's three-clawed hand in it's mouth: A three foot, solid black-wolf, with Cerulean/Sapphire-moon eyes. On it's back, are the two swords the blue-masked turtle wielded. If not for those, the blue-bandana around his neck and the wrappings loosely wrapped over his paws and legs, the Leader of the Kraang wouldn't had figured out that the humanoid-turtle has turned into a wolf, right before it's eyes.

The beast snarled at the Kraang, it's eyes piercing right into the Kraang's eyes with such fearlessness and through the depths of it's soul. It didn't speak a single word, but the words have been delivered to the Leader of the Kraang:  _ **I am he, who marked you with my claws. He, who got in your way to destroying Earth** **. And I shall be the one who'll keep getting in your way, until one of us falls to the other.**_

The large-Kraang, after receiving the message, soon realized it could no longer hold on and found itself starting to descend underneath the water. It screeched up at the wolf and, foolishly, reached it's arm out towards the canine, before it finally sank into the darkness of the water.

The wolf, Leonardo, after watching the Leader of the Kraang sink into the darkness, turned and immediately started galloping up towards the exit above him. His ribs jostled with each step he made, his swords tapping against his side now that he's much slimmer and doesn't have a shell to keep them in place. The pain was tempting him to curl in on himself to stop the spreading of the pain, but knew he has to keep moving until he made it out of the Technodrome.

He panted with each breath he took through the three-clawed hand he still held in his clenched fangs, his mind racing to keep running… Keep  _running_ …  _Keep **running!**_

When he made it to the hole, he launched himself forward, just as the water followed him out and gushed out towards him. He slammed right into the ocean, the force making him yelp and release his hold on the metal-hand for a moment when his ribs pulse even more with anger from the painful bellyflop he did. The cramping made it hard for him to move his forearms to swim back up to the surface, but pushed past the pain to kick with his hind-legs and make an immediate grab for the metal-hand that started rising up to the surface.

Once he made it to the top, he finally started hacking up coughs that's been building up in his lungs, some small specks of blood mixed with water exiting his mouth as he hunched over the metal that served as his life preserver. He was too focused on catching his breath, that he didn't notice he was drifting away from New York from the current. He didn't even had enough time to register that information, when his mind started blacking out on him.

He tried to fight it, but the exhaustion on being awake for nearly an entire day and fighting an army of Kraang, was finally catching up to him. He had no choice but to give in to sleep, even as he struggled to grip tightly to the metal-arm with his fangs until it finally overtook him to let go and sink into the water, with his swords and broken ribs dragging him down.

Unaware what was going on around him, a blue-whale came out of nowhere and got underneath him, bringing him up towards the surface before it started making it's way north-east from New York.

Taking him where a voice told it to deliver the humanoid-wolf/turtle to... Leaving behind his ninja-mask, that was heading towards the city.

**TBC**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I bet some of you were expecting this to finally happen… And you're all wondering, just how, he's finally able to do this. All will be explained… Possibly, in the next chapter.
> 
> …I did tell you it'll be a two part… I never said it would be a two part to separate the episode like the makers did.
> 
> *: I think they mistimed between the two invasions when Casey said: Aren't those the same guys who tried to take over Earth, last year? If it has been a year since the first invasion, it would've been snowing, like it did in "The Invasion" Episode. It felt like the first invasion took place somewhere in Summer, and the second invasion took place in the same year but in-between the last week or two of November and the start of December.
> 
> *: You would think Donnie would've suspect the Kraang to put up a force field, since they would be expecting the turtles to break into TCRI and, possibly, destroy it, that he would bring an equipment to see if they put up one and a special EMP to disable it. Having him state 'he didn't know', must've pointed out that he didn't think about that possibility (and he's supposed to be the smartest one in the group [Many of us know, so far, that the smartest Donatello is: TMNT 2K3 Donatello]) or had thought about doing that but was occupied with other matters that was needed for the mission.
> 
> *: Yeah, it doesn't make sense on how Leo can move one of Kraang Prime's arm. But hey, the producers decided to have him capable on wrapping Mikey's Kusarigama chain around Kraang Prime (though he didn't exactly wrapped it) and, somehow, have the strength to hold him back… What else that didn't make sense in the episode: How, exactly, was Leo able to escape the Technodrome, unscathed, while stuck with Kraang Prime?
> 
> Also, I think having them stop the first invasion on Independence Day (in the story… Though, I wish it was still July to update this story on Independence Day), feels a bit more appropriate. Don't you?
> 
> Sorry it took so long. We finished moving about three weeks ago… We didn't have Internet for almost two weeks. But, now we got it, and I can continue on with the story!
> 
> R&R


	18. Unveiling the Blood (Part 2)

_Black… All he can see is… Black… The **darkness**._

_He isn't afraid of the dark. He never had been afraid of it, even as a hatchling. He always embraced it, and it was all he ever knew, since the beginning._

_No, he isn't afraid of the darkness… He's afraid of not knowing what's going on. Where he, exactly is, right now, at this moment._

_Something firm, yet soft and gentle, rested itself on top of his head. It isn't his sensei's paw, nor was it any of his brothers' touch or even April's._

_This feeling… It was smooth as wood, yet firm like granite… And through the touch, he instantly felt safe and welcomed. When the presence started pulling away, he instantly let out a small whimper._

_Now that he knew something else is with him, he didn't want it to leave him behind. He wants answers to assure him of his whereabouts to be secluded from humans, and Kraang. He needs to know if his brothers and April made it to the Lair… But most of all, that the Earth had been saved from Kraang._

_The presence rested right back on his head, eliminating the fear of the unknown from the fifteen year-old._

**You shall know what you need to know in time.**

_A voice whispered in his ears, having him to jerk his head to the side to see what snuck up on him but only found himself still alone in the dark._

**We will meet, once you've regained your** **strength. For now, rest…**

_He doesn't know this voice, but found himself trusting the voice that spoke to him. Even when he was just told they'll meet, he still didn't like the presence leaving him._

**I will not abandon you.**

_The presence still left his head… Only for a large-mass of warmth to curl beside him._

_He didn't move an inch, not even a twitch, when something laid at his left. Knowing he won't be left alone and will finally get some answers, the humanoid-wolf/turtle allowed the darkness to consume his vision and, as instructed, sleep._

* * *

**Some Time Later** **…**  
When Leonardo reopened his eyes, he didn't find himself in the darkness. Instead, when he opened his eyes, he found himself staring at the rough ground that, to him, is made of solid rock.

Looking to his left, where he hope to find the presence that laid beside him, saw a curved, ragged wall that, also, looks to be made from rocks.

His current location confused him.

 _'I'm... In a cave?'_  He knew this isn't right; the last thing he remembered was falling into the Harbor and struggling to stay afloat when escaping the Te-... His eyes widened, instantly remembering what occurred.  _'The Invasion. The Technodrome… Kraang!'_

He immediately got to his feet... And  _hands_? Not that he was objecting to the decision to stand up, but for some reason, he felt like he  _can't_  get to just his feet. The moment he stood up on all-fours, his ribs instantly shot out a pulse of pain throughout his chest and abdomen.

Leo barked out a yelp of pain, his body collapsing back down to the ground. However, instead of expecting to lay on hard granite, he eventually noticed that he's laying on a makeshift bed-like mat made of moss, leaves and grass. The mat cushioned his fall, but it didn't help relieve the pain he's going through and started letting out hacking-version of a coughing fit.

He reached out with his right-hand to cover his mouth... Which he soon saw that, instead of his usual three-fingered green-skinned hand wrapped in thin wrappings, a bare black-furred canine paw came to his face in it's place.

Startled, he choked in his coughing fit, eyes wide open when he looked from the paw to it's arm, then to a furry-bump, that he knew is his shoulder. He also saw, not the sight of his swords resting on top of his shell, himself laying on his plastron or even his two legs. Instead, his swords are resting against the wall of the cave behind a black-fur rump and thick tail, connected to hind-legs and mid-section of a canine.

…All of which, are connected to his now furry-shoulder and canine-paw.

He was officially freaking out.

_'What the shell is going on?!'_

His heart was beating rapidly, banging against his sore chest and feeling the urge to cough starting back up.

He was so caught up by this startling discovery, he didn't notice a large figure coming into the cave and is now beside him, until a shadow of a hand caught his attention.

When he looked up... He was staring face-to-face with an eight feet tall, thin-figure version of a gorilla, smiling at him.

Leo's eyes widened at the creature crouching so close to his face before, staring at the hand that was still held out to grab him, attempted to get back up to his feet to try and escape. Once again, his ribs throbbed and sent out a warning pain throughout his body again, forcing him to fall on his uninjured side once more.

The creature, watching him in his attempt to back away from it and struggling to get in a hunch over position, replace it's smile with a confused look and, as before, reached out for the fifteen year-old.

In response, by an unknown thought of control, Leo snapped his jaws up at the hand to warn it away, letting out warning snarls of barks to the large creature.

 _ **"Stay away!"**_ He instantly ceased his snarling, taken back that, instead of just saying those words to the gorilla-creature, he just snarled the words out in the Tongue of Animal.

Leonardo growled out in frustration.

Temporarily forgetting the creature in front of him, he focused on getting himself to talk. All he got to come out from his mouth was a few gruff sounds and, on accident, made a yawn-mix whine howl. He snapped his...  _Snout_?

This was getting stranger and stranger to the boy.

_'The hell is wrong with me?!'_

_**"You've finally awaken, I see."** _

A voice drew him from his scared thoughts and, looking over the creature's shoulder, saw... A huge Buck entering the cave, giving off an odd light that surrounded his body.

The great, large deer calmly, without the slightest signs of fear, walked towards Leonardo. He then saw berries secured in the deer's mouth, that the teen recognized to being Elderberries. From just the sight of the small-fruits his stomach growled in hungry, making him wince when the growling also brought up the soreness from his injured ribs.

Once standing before the fifteen year-old, beside the gorilla-creature, lowered his mighty head down and stared right into Leo's Cerulean/Sapphire-Moon eyes.

The humanoid-wolf/turtle, as he stared into Obsidian-black eyes, felt like the animal was searching through the depths of his soul and, for some reason, every memory he has kept in his mind. However, rather than feel uncomfortable of the feeling of intrusion, he found himself completely fine of what's going on at the moment.

After all, he has a feeling that this Stag, this animal, somehow, is the reason he's still alive. And with that thought in mind, was more than willing to trust the deer that can easily trample him beneath his hooves or even pierce him with his mighty antlers.

After seconds of the two staring into each others' eyes, the Stag let out a small snort before lifting it's head up.

 _ **"You're taking your current form much sooner than I expected you to adapt."**_ He questioned the teenager, who gave him a slight annoyed look to the deer's words, almost as if the animal was mocking him for not being able to get up.

 _ **"What's that suppose to mean?"**_ He replied, still angered that he can't speak and can only communicate by the Tongue of Animal.  _ **"And why can't I speak, or stand without the aid of my arms?"**_

His question seemed to surprise the Buck, while the gorilla-creature was confused on what's going on between the two but remained quiet for a conversation that's clearly going on before it. The Stag cocked his head to the side.

 _ **"You do not remember?"**_ He asked, his ears flicking back a bit before lowering his head back down to stare right into the eyes of the humanoid-wolf/turtle.  _ **"What is the last recollection you recall, from your encounter with the Kraang?"**_

His question puzzled Leonardo, while also taking him by surprise that he, an animal, knew who are the Kraang.

 _'Did he, actually, read my mind? Is that how he knows the Kraang?'_ He pondered, before he cleared his mind to rethink on what he remembered right before he blacked out.  _'I stayed behind in the Technodrome, with the Kraang leader. My brothers and April escaped, in the last escape pod. I tried to make a run for the exit, only to be grabbed by the Kraang. He was crushing me... And then-...'_

It all felt fuzzy when trying to remember what happened after that, but he started to see pass through the haze when he remember feeling a pulse traveling throughout his body. He remembered how it thumped like heartbeat, while something coursed through his veins. A feeling like power, but more flowing like water than adrenaline.

The pulsing made him feel something was trying to claw out of his chest for freedom, making him want to scream out a mighty roar if the Kraang leader wasn't squeezing the life out of him like a snake coiling around it's prey.

...Then, he felt a veil be pulled from his eyes and, from the beckoning of the water, he embraced the power...

His eyes snapped open when he saw what happened to Kraang, escaping the Technodrome, fighting to stay afloat and faintly hearing the sound of a whale heading his way, before the darkness pulled him into unconsciousness.

Leonardo, stunned by his own finding, could only stare up at the deer... Who no longer stood before him as a large Buck, but what he would describe as an anthro-deer creature.

The Stag stood on his hind-legs, on his hooves that look to be wood-mixed stones, long arms with two hoof fingers and a dew claw as his thumbs. On his arms and legs, light-brown swirl markings danced on his limbs, with some traveling to his shoulders down to his sides. Parts of his fur stuck out from both sides of his neck and the middle of his arms, the fur merged with wood to stick up and act like armor on his chest. His antlers, instead of growing upwards, appeared to flattened and growing apart from the other, acting like tree-branches, but still strong to attack*.

The Elderberries remained in his mouth, as he blankly stares down at the injured wolf that used to appear as a humanoid-turtle.

Leo was at a loss for words.

 _'I'm... A wolf?'_ He waited for either his Conscious or his Instinct to answer his question, but he heard nothing. In fact, not only does he not hear than, but he also can feel either of their presence within his mind. He grew worried when all he could hear are his own thoughts going through his head, and no traces of the two voices that has guided him since he was but an infant.

**_When you turn into another being, the calls of your Human and Wolf-Blood are silenced. They only speak, when you are in the body of your truest form that mixed you three as one._ **

He blinked at the deer's words, still trying to get used to having said being able to read his thoughts.

 _ **"How do you know that?"**_ He asked, attempting to sit up when a hand gently pinned him to the ground, the hand belonging to the gorilla-creature.  _ **"And who…? Or, no offense,** what  **are you two?"**_

The Buck got down on one knee to be near eye-level with Leo, removing the Elderberries from his mouth to hold in his hoof-hand.

_**I am a Spirit, a Guardian of the Woods and Forest. As for my companion here, she is what the humans refer to as "** **Sasquatch". Or, in a clearer term, Bigfoot.** _

Leonardo's eyes widened from the information he just received, blinking owlishly from the Deer Spirit to the gorilla-creature that he now know to be the mythical creature, Bigfoot.

In response, Bigfoot, once again, gave him a smile, her hand still remained on his body to keep him still on the ground.

"Hello!" She greeted, her speech and low-gruff voice making the fifteen year-old more astonished.

 _'It-… **She**  can speak, in human tongue?'_ Not wanting to hurt Bigfoot's feelings, he decided to greet her back.  _ **"Hello…"**_ He made a soft grunting sound when speaking in the Tongue of the Animal, which sounded like a muffled bark.

Bigfoot kept on smiling at him, blinking a few times as if frozen in place. Her still response to his own greeting, made him feel a bit awkward.

_'Does she only know a few words to speak?'_

_**She cannot hear the words from the Tongue of Animal, I'm afraid. Only the words, from human tongue.** _

The Deer Spirit explained to his silent question, turning to the gorilla-creature and giving her a nod to release the black-wolf from her grasp. Leonardo didn't make any movement to get to his feet, remaining still on his makeshift-bed of leaves and grass.

The spirit's answer surprised the teenager.

_**"Isn't she an Earth Young?"** _

The Buck nodded his head to him.

 _ **Yes... Sadly, she was held in captivity by humans, since her birth. Thirteen years ago, a mile away from a human campsite, I founded her lost in my forest, injured and alone.**_ His ears flattened, as his eyes reflected so much sorrow for the gorilla-creature that sat beside him. Leo didn't need him to say anymore about Bigfoot's past, let alone if he knows what happened to her parents when it's pretty clear that neither of them are alive.  _ **I raised her, ever since, teaching her the ways of blending in the environments and to properly fight for her survival. While I tried to get her to hear and speak the Tongue of Animal, the human tongue is all she ever learned in life.**_

The Deer Spirit then extended his right-hand to the wolf, holding out the few Elderberries he brought from the forest.

_**That is enough for sad tales, for now. Right now, eat this.** _

Leonardo leaned his muzzle into the deer's hoof-palm and, after a few sniffs of the small black berries, licked the fruits into his mouth, swallowing them whole instead of chewing them.

His way on eating the berries amazed the Deer Spirit.

_**You took them, without hesitation. And yet, you avoid chewing them... Are you worried of the illness they could cause, despite that you aren't a human?** _

The wolf lowered his head down, trying to get comfortable, but kept his gaze locked with the Buck.

_**"It's not that I don't trust you, or the fear of getting ill from eating the Elderberries raw. I ate them in a hurry in hoping my body will be able to get some of it's juices into it's system, before my stomach forces me to hack them out."** _

_**Because of the mutagen you swallowed, when you and your pack got mutated. Right?** _

Leonardo nodded his head, lowering his head to rest on his paws as he felt the berries made their down his esophagus and into his empty stomach.

The Deer Spirit rested his hand on top of Leo's head, a feeling of comfort coursing through his body that lasted for a full minute, before the hoof-hand pulled away, leaving the teenager drowsy and sore.

He heard the Stag talking to Bigfoot, though he couldn't make out what he just said to her and was too tired to ask. As his eyes slowly closed, he faintly watch the Deer Spirit morph back into the large-deer form and taking off into the forest, before he fell right back to sleep.

* * *

 **July Eleventh, 2012; in the Forest...  
** Leonardo focused on his breathing, still feeling the pulse of pain radiating from his fractured ribs that was more bearable to deal with than last time, as Bigfoot gently lifted the upper-half of his body to rest against her right-arm, exposing his belly to the Deer Spirit.

After his short nap on the same day he met the two, Leo learned that he's been asleep for four days since the blue-whale brought him close enough for the current to carry him down a stream into the spirit's domain... The blue-whale, having to be summoned to save him, by the Deer Spirit, himself.

The humanoid-wolf/turtle thought about his Pack, thinking on how worried they must be for him, wondering where he was and hoping he's still alive in the city. He wanted to push his worry thoughts aside and get himself started for the trip back to New York, only to be stopped by the Deer Spirit, Bigfoot and his fractured ribs. They had to make him see reason that the instant he leaves for New York, he would be unable to protect himself from hunters, certain predators that could use his injuries to their advantage or even find shelter. Even if he could reach the city, they had to remind him that he hasn't learn how to turn back into his true-form and attempting to do so would put him at greater risk.

Leo knew they were right and must take their advice by remaining in the cave to let his ribs heal. During his time of rest, he gotten used to Bigfoot's intinmadating appearance and found himself comfortable enough to let her sleep beside him. He also found out, despite her odd choice to at times speak in third person and some child-like behavior, she's very smart and knowledgeable when bringing certain leaves to use as makeshift bandages for his minor injuries and finding other fruits or vegetation for him to safely consume.

She clearly learned all she was taught from the Deer Spirit, himself. And speaking of the spirit, Leo has been seeing him only when the night comes out to rest and would be gone when morning arrives. His absence would have the teen wonder where goes off, but didn't want to pry onto business that wasn't his own to worry.

While he was taking it easy, he would at times try to, after dealing with the discomfort, attempt to walk around in the cave to avoid getting lightheaded from his low blood pressure and getting lazy. Bigfoot would always keep a watchful eye on him during his small exercise, then would go to his side to check on his ribs and bring him water from a bowl she found in the woods.

Today, the Deer Spirit decided to remain in the den to see how Leonardo's recovery is progressing and determine what the next course of action will be for the teenager. Gently, he prodded his ribs to see how much he can handle the pain level.

Just by resting his hand against the ribcage, the black-wolf slightly twitched but didn't make a single sound that told them he was hurting. That was a good sign, but the next test will tell them if his injury was still serious and how much longer he needs to rest. The Deer Spirit barely added any pressure to his hand when he and Bigfoot saw his ears pull back a bit. Still, he didn't make a noise and showed no sign of hiding his pain to them.

When putting in more pressure, enough for him to press the fur flat against his skin as if proceeding to pet him, did Leonardo finally made a response: a low groan, with a small whimper to his tone. The spirit got all the information he needed to reach a verdict.

Slowly, he got to his feet, then turned into his deer-form and slowly made his way outside. While watching the spirit go, Bigfoot gently sat the wolf back down on his makeshift-mat of a bed, gently patting him on his good side and giving him a big smile.

"Friend is getting better," she said to him. "Soon, Deer will let Friend out of cave."

Her words brought in a feeling of great joy in Leo's chest when he heard the news. He was so happy, he almost jumped to his feet to perform a couple of flips in the air, if the slight pressure against his ribs hadn't reminded him to continue resting.

He wanted nothing more than to be up on his feet, and begin his training with his wolf-body. Leo wasn't one to staying still for so long, unless he was sleeping or perfecting his stealth. That even includes when he would sustain injuries that requires him to do so, making him the second worst patient Donatello has to watch over after treating his wounds, next to Raphael.

_'If I were back in the Lair, Don would have me strapped to one of the infirmary beds in his lab and keep me under observation for two months.'_

He would've chuckled from that thought, if thinking about his Kins didn't trigger a bittersweet feeling to build up in his chest, besides that his wolf-form would make him sound as if he's purring up a growl.

Bigfoot held out one of her hands underneath his snout, offering him mixture of elderberries and cranberries, along with some Licorice roots, Oregano, Cloves and Chamomile for his ribs and, surprisingly, his stomach. Without any hesitation, he ate the fruits and vegetation with ease, thumping his tail lightly on the ground to express his gratitude to Bigfoot when he can't talk as a wolf.

Lately, he noticed his stomach hadn't been bothering him much lately and, for the first time in so long, didn't feel sick of being full. He had a feeling that the Deer Spirit is the reason to his stomach feeling better and allowing him to eat as much as he wants, giving him hope that his friend has found the remedy to cure his stomach from what the mutagen did to one of his organs and be able to handle human food once he gets back to New York.

...Yet, a large piece of himself didn't want to leave.

He didn't see it to be right to just up and leave the instant he's at one hundred percent, not after all Bigfoot and the Deer Spirit has done for him. They've nursed him back to health from the battle with Kraang since he was brought to their territory, still helping him regain his strength at this very moment. But what's more, they saved him from Death, itself.

And as such, he owes them a debt... Very much, a life-debt, for keeping him alive. He hopes to find some way of an agreement that will allow him to return to his Pack, while ready to come back should there be any need for his service.

He felt drowsiness creeping up, no doubt from the Chamomile he just ate, and slowly let his body relax when he was pulled to the urge to sleep. Normally, he wouldn't be able to sleep in just a snap; having to be trained as a ninja left him always on edge and the instant he hears something that didn't seem right, he'll jump right out of sleep and increase his battle with insomnia.

As he fell into the gentle embrace of sleep, Leonardo didn't notice the concern look on Bigfoot's face she has for him. Something she knew was going to happen, and can't say or do anything to help the fifteen year-old be prepare for what is to come.

* * *

 **Hours Later; Nighttime...  
** He felt an odd presence attempting to creep up on him, getting the black-wolf to snap his eyes open and, by sheer instinct, jump to his feet.

He let out a threatening snarl to whoever that dared to sneak up on him, pulling his lips back to flash his fangs. His tail held up high in the air as his body was positioned to slightly crouch over his bed, readying himself for combat, despite his ribs sending pulse of soreness through his chest and stomach.

 _ **"Who's there?"**_ He called out, his claws digging into the ground to keep him firmly on the ground and not jump until the intruder attacks first.

The familiar sound of hoof making contact with the earth, made him immediately stop growling when he realized the intruder that woke him up is the Deer Spirit. Immediately, he ceased his snarling and forced his body to sit, flattening his ears, lowering his head and letting out a low-whimper to send out an apology to the deer.

The large Stag simply walked towards the boy and lowered his head on top of the wolf's.

 _ **"You have no reason to apologize,"**  _he told Leo.  _ **"You felt something off, even when not conscious to know what the disturbance was and, like any creature of the wild would do, prepared yourself for combat."**_

The Stag pulled away from the boy, his eyes showing no sign of anger nor disappointment to the humanoid-wolf/turtle. Although, they held an odd look of uncertainty for the fifteen year-old. Whatever the spirit was uncertain about, must be the reason for his actions to wake up Leonardo from his sleep.

Before Leo could even question him about his whereabouts or why he hadn't returned to the cave all day, the Buck went to his rump and gently pushed him to stand up.

His sudden choice of action caught Leo by surprise, stumbling to remain on his paws when the deer gently shoved him towards the exit of the cave.

_**"What's-?"** _

_**"There's no time for questions, Young One. We must leave."**_ The Spirit interrupted, urging him to keep moving one last time before going on ahead towards the exit.

While the fifteen year-old had hoped to finally get out of the cave and explore and that moment has finally came, the Spirit's actions puzzled him. Leonardo lifted his nose in the air to smell out any unfamiliar scents that tells him if hunters are nearby, only find nothing off with the air.

_'That rules out our location being in danger from being discovered, but it doesn't help to tell me what's going on... Oh well, guess I have no choice but to follow the Deer Spirit and see where he takes me.'_

Once they were outside, he found that they're in a forest, surrounded by pine trees. The sky is dark and shining with stars and the full-moon above them, clearly stating to being nighttime. The crickets chirping away in the peaceful woods, an owl or two hooting gently in the air as they search for food and he was certain that he heard a mountain lion calling out from afar, somewhere near the mountain.

His ribs still hurt, but the pain had lessened over the last few days for him to tolerate it, so long he doesn't push himself to a sprint or attempt to stretch his arms. The Stag continued to lead him through the forest, heading for the darker parts of the trees that the moon's light couldn't shine down upon. Leo's fur stood on edge, sensing something off within the darkness of the forest.

His muscles tensed to make him stop in his tracks, but his mind reminded him that the Deer Spirit wanted him to follow. That the Spirit can be trusted and has done so much to heal him, he shouldn't be afraid of the unknown that he follows the Stag to.

 _'Besides,'_  he thought.  _'I've been trained to fight within the shadows, the way of invisibility, for most my life and it never, not once, harmed me. And so, I shall not fear the unknown that the darkness hides.'_

He took his first step into the darkness and, almost the moment he felt something ominous about the forest, the feeling went away. The tension he felt within him immediately evaporated, his fur flattening.

The Deer Spirit, who didn't stop to see if the humanoid-wolf/turtle is still following him or not, continued walking straight into the forest. Leonardo remained at his heel, not going to allow doubt or fear to stop him from reaching their unknown destination.

As they went deeper into the forest, a thick fog surrounded the two and the sound of the crickets, owls and other night creatures all went silent. Leonardo's heart was racing with anticipation from the sudden change of atmosphere around him and the Deer Spirit.

Then, without a word, the Spirit stopped in his tracks. When Leo stopped as well, did he find himself and the spirit standing in front of an old, damaged bridge. Underneath the bridge, is a dark abyss between the ground they stand on and land on the other side of the bridge, with the thick fog still lingering within the air.

The ominous feeling came back, making Leonardo's stomach tie in knots and his eyes to dilate. He let out a low growl at the bridge, feeling every bone in his body refusing to take a single step onto the damage path to the other side of land.

The Deer Spirit gave him a silent look of interest to Leo's response to the bridge.

_**"You are wise to be cautious about this bridge, though it no longer poses a threat like it had in the past."** _

His voice pulled the humanoid-wolf/turtle's attention away from the bridge and stare into the spirit's eyes.

_**"This bridge was once cursed, tainted by dark magic, from a vengeful Spirit of a deer that swore vengeance upon Man. His hatred lasted for many years, haunting many travelers who attempt to cross and tormenting hunters in their dreams who slept close to the bridge... Until one day, nine brothers crossed the bridge and ended up turning into Stags."** _

He folded his legs to lay down before the black-wolf, their eyes never pulling away from each other.

_**"We have lived for over four centuries, reliving our lives as Stags, unable to return home to our father and continue living as humans... However, in time, we found out about the secrets of this curse that was bestowed onto us."** _

As he talked, he morphed to his true-form, now kneeling in front of Leo.

_**When it cursed us, it basically killed our human body in order for us to be reborn as Deer Spirits. In the process, the dark magic left the bridge and allowed all to cross over. What they don't realize is that the moment they go over to the other side, they either experience true terror or great pain... But, in truth, what lies beyond the other side of the bridge, is the physical realm of the Astral Plane.** _

Cerulean/Sapphire-Moon eyes widened, not believing what he just heard but took the Spirit's words as the truth when he clearly has a serious look on his face. He didn't know what to say, even as the Spirit stood back to his full height.

 _ **In order for you to truly heal and learn to revert between bodies, you must first learn to properly use your current body and how to be one with it. Once you accomplish this, the next trial shall commence. However, you must do this on your own.**_ He slowly headed for the way they came from, allowing the fog to circle him as he left the fifteen year-old alone beside the bridge.  _ **When you are ready, I shall come for you.**_

Just as he appeared, he immediately vanished behind the trees, not a single movement or sound left to alert anyone of his presence.

Leonardo is left alone to ponder on what he was just told. His misgiving towards the bridge still lingers, especially learning that it turned the spirit and his brothers into Deer Spirits, but his curiosity to know what the physical realm of the Astral Plane is like compared to the Astral Plane he goes over through meditation or sleep, made him want to go over and experience a whole new world for him to explore.

Leo raised a trembling paw towards the first plank of the bridge, trying to fight off the unease feeling he had towards the path before him.

_'If crossing this bridge is the only way to bring me closer to finding the truth behind my sudden ability to turn between my true-form and wolf-form, then I must push aside my fear and anger towards the bridge and keep moving forward.'_

He made his first step onto the bridge.

_~Eeeeeerrrrrr~_

The wood beneath his paw made a creaking sound from the added to it's poor conditioned state. Nevertheless, the black-wolf didn't feel it anywhere near close to breaking underneath his weight, and pushed himself to move forward.

In the darkness of the trees, the Deer Spirit watches the humanoid-wolf/turtle walk across the bridge and into the forest, where he will face certain challenges he would never expect to encounter.*

* * *

**August Second, Three Weeks Later...  
** _*Snap!*_

A rabbit lifted itself to sit on it's rump, ears sticking out to hear how close the footsteps are to it when it knew a large creature made the sound by stepping on a twig.

_**Rrrrrraaaawwwwllll...** _

The moment the rabbit heard the sound, it immediately took off running. Behind it, a large-feline jumped out from the bushes and gave chase for the rabbit. The small mammal forced is body to put on burst of speed, at times jumping from side-to-side in hoping to distract the predator long enough to reach for it's burrow and be safe, only for it's plan to fail as the feline came closer to grabbing it with his fangs.

Fear raced in the rabbits heart, desperately pushing itself to go faster than it can go.

The feline came closer, his shadow covering the grey-furred rabbit. He flashed his fangs out, letting out a yowling roar. Just as he leaned down to make a grab for the rabbit...

"Aaaauuugh!"

A shadow jumped out from the shadows of the trees and rammed into the mountain lion, forcing the both of them to slam into the ground and allowing the rabbit to sprint away to freedom. The mountain lion jumped to his feet and bared his fangs to whoever that dared to prevent him from hunting... Only to be face-to-face with the black-wolf, who stood his ground before the large-feline and giving him a disappointed look.

The feline's yowling dramatically reduced down to a low growl.

 _ **"Must you always interfere with my hunts?"**_ The mountain lion questioned the small-canine, his tail flickering with irritation towards the humanoid-wolf/turtle.

In response, Leonardo let out a snort to the feline's attitude. He knew the cougar for over a week and is always cranky when hungry, or somebody interrupts his nap.

 _ **"Only when you forget the deal we made, Sun Stone."**_ He replied, his words making the feline confused for a moment before realization sparked in his greenish-yellow eyes.

The mountain lion let out a groan, flopping his body to the ground.

 _ **"Was it a young, or an expecting mother?"**_ He asked.

 _ **"An expecting mother."**_ Leo answered, walking up to the feline and licking him on top of his head.

Sun Stone gave him an evil look, but didn't stop the canine from grooming his head and lightly nipping at his ears to help pick a tick out of his fur.

 _ **"Why did I even agree to the deal in the first place?"**_ He asked out loud, which earned himself a bite to the ear that made him jump right back to his feet and snarl at the wolf.

 _ **"Because it was either that, or I would've kept**_ ** _interfering the hunts and the both of us would've starved. Remember?"_** Leonardo reminded, gently brushing his shoulder against the feline's in a playful mood.  _ **"Besides, you told me that you would agree to whatever conditions I would make to how you are to keep the natural balance in the forest, as payment to me freeing you from the humans' trap to express your gratitude."**_

Sun Stone flicked his tail to smack the canine in side, where his ribs had finally healed, and forced him to the ground before getting on top of the black-wolf.

 _ **"Are you ever going to let it go?"**_ Sun Stone asked, giving Leo a cat-like grin when he's clearly overpowering the humanoid-wolf/turtle with his larger and more body mass than he has.

Right when he thought he won their game, he felt the black-wolf immediately get large and soon, found himself being pinned down by a humanoid-turtle.

Leonardo smiled down at the cougar beneath him, keeping him on his side as he remained on top.

"So long as I'm here to put you back in your place, never." He answered, reaching out and started stroking his fur, from the top of the feline's head to the midsection of his back.

Almost instantly, Sun Stone went slack to his touch, releasing a mighty pure and appears to have forgotten his hunger problem for the moment.

_For a mountain lion, it's always easy to make him act like an overgrown, house cat._

The sound of his Conscience talking to him, made the teenager happy to still be able to have silent conversations with his Instinct and Conscience while in his true-form. While he did enjoy having peace and quiet as a wolf, it did leave him a bit lonely and, for a while, come up with talking to himself on what either of the two would say to him if he were still a humanoid-wolf/turtle.

Leo got off of the mountain lion, continuing to pet him for a good five minutes, before stopping to allow companion to get back up for a third time.

"You calm now?" He asked, earning himself a firm nuzzling against his chest by the large feline. That was a good sign for the fifteen year-old. "Good. Now, to make up for your hunt. Go down to the river and catch some fish. They should hold you until nighttime, allowing you a better chance to hunt at night than in the day."

The thought of fish, alone, was more than enough to get the mountain lion to lick his lips, no longer harboring any ill will towards the turtle.

He started making his way towards the direction for the river, when he stopped for a moment.

_**"You seemed to have finally mastered the ability to change between your two forms... Have you spoken with the Deer Spirit lately?"** _

Leonardo shook his head to the feline's question.

"He had business to attend to with his brothers in South America, while  _ **Caela**_ (Slender/From the forest) is in charge of taking care of the forest from the poachers." He answered. "From what he informed me, he should be back somewhere today. Probably right now."

_**Which you have guessed correctly, Young One.** _

Behind him, the Deer Spirit came out from behind a tree, surprising the cougar but Leonardo wasn't a bit started by his sudden return. Leo looked up at the spirit, giving him a smile.

"You sure know how to make an entrance,  _ **Faunus**_ (God of Forests)." He greeted, watching the anthro-deer come to him.

_**And you seem to no longer get startled by my unannounced visits.** _

Leonardo chuckled, feeling proud of himself for perfecting his sensing ability improving by no longer jumping or being startled by the Deer Spirit, whom he now learned is called  _ **Faunus**_.

Seeing that the two will be wanting to catch up on what the other missed while the spirit was away, Sun Stone took the opportunity to purposely announce himself to leave by yawning out a roar, stretching his limbs in the process.

_**"It's great to see you finally came back from your personal business, but** I **need to go. There are fishes that needs to be caught.** -He turned to Leonardo, giving him a slight nod.-  **I'll see you around, Moon Scar."**_

The fifteen year-old gave him a nod back, smiling at the feline.

"Same to you, Sun Stone."

After saying their goodbyes, the mountain lion took off for the river, leaving the humanoid-wolf/turtle alone with  _ **Faunus**_. He turned to the Deer Spirit, anxious to hear about his travels to meet up with his eight, little brothers.

"How was your trip to South America? Are your brothers doing good?"

Rather than answer the turtle's question, Faunus raised a three-fingered hoof-hand up, stopping him for a moment to hold off any other questions he had for him.

_**I shall tell you the conditions of my travels, another time. For now, I wish to take you to another place of the forest.** _

He then turned into his deer-form, silently telling Leonardo to turn into his wolf-form. The teen knows that whatever reason  _ **Faunus**_  wishes to hold off any of his questions and insisting to go for a run, means there was something important that needed to discuss about. The moment the two became a Stag and black-wolf, the two sprinted through the forest.

* * *

**Teen Minutes Later...  
** _*Haa... Haa... Haa...*_

Leonardo was already losing his ability to catch his breath as he continued running with the Deer Spirit, who wasn't anywhere near close to being tired as the black-wolf.

They've been running throughout the forest, jumped over streams, bound at the high hills and now looks to be heading for Talbot Peak. Not once, during their run, did they stopped for a moment to catch their breath, get a drink or even snag some berries. Leo made attempts to ask  _ **Faunus**_  where was taking them, but always stayed quiet and kept up with the Buck in front of him.

His stomach churned when they reached the bottom of the mountain, his muscles slightly trembling from belong overused and wanting to stop to rest, but he pushed both of those thoughts behind him and forced himself to start scaling up the peak with the Deer Spirit.

_'Whatever reason he has for having us to run for so long and to scale Talbot Peak, it must be very important... I just hope this'll be the end of our run, or else my heart is going to burst.'_

If he were as his humanoid-wolf/turtle-self, it wouldn't be that much of a problem to climb the mountain. As a wolf, it's as difficult as getting Donatello to not go into his lab for an entire week, let alone three days straight.

Each spot he place his paw at would either give way loose gravel, too smooth for his claws to hook on to or even cut into the pads of his paws. His hind-legs would slip from their spots and will find himself almost falling to his death, if his reflexes and quick thinking helped him continued up the mountain.

While he struggles to continue on,  ** _Faunus_**  scaled Talbot Peak with ease. Unlike Leonardo, he wasn't climbing the mountain... He was literally  _jumping_ towards the peak, like a rabbit sprinting through the tall grass.

Leo growled at the Stag making his way to the top, while he was halfway towards the peak and barely hanging on to the ledge he's attempting to pull himself onto. His right-leg slipped on loose rock and almost started falling, if his claws hadn't remained anchored on the ledge. It took him two efforts to finally pull himself up, no longer dangling in the air.

As he focused on catching breath before continuing on, he saw  _ **Faunus**_  has finally made it to the top of the peak and is now staring right down at him. He didn't say anything to the teenager, and, after an entire minute of staring into each other's eyes, turned his back to the black-wolf. Not showing any sign at all to aid him.

Leonardo's anger grew towards the Stag, momentarily forgetting that he was out of breath.

 _'If I die, I'm going to come back to haunt him and chase him for the rest of his life, all over the Earth!'_ He swore in his head, before wincing when the cuts on his pads throbbed from touching the stone beneath him.

 _ **"In that case, why don't you get up to the top and see if such an event will occur?"**_ A voice behind Leo made him jump and turn to see who just spoke to him, which he found to being  _ **Faunus**_ , in his deer-form... Standing in the middle of the air?

His Cerulean/Sapphire-moon eyes widened in disbelief on what he's seeing before him, as his jaws dropped in awe.

_'He can **fly**?!'_

The Stag let out a snort from the look on the boy's face, then, to further increase the black-wolf's astonishment, walked on air towards him before standing face-to-face with the humanoid-wolf/turtle. He lowered his head and sniffed at the wolf's paws, seeing blood slightly showing from the ground where he stand.

 _ **"Is the pain from your paws holding you back to continue?"**_ He raised his head and watch as the wolf still proceeds to gasp for breath, panting with his tongue sticking out, finally getting over the shock to witness the deer is able to walk on air.  _ **"Are you going to let some blood shed and exhaustion to prevent you from continuing?"**_

Leonardo felt his anger rise to the slight mocking tone  _ **Faunus**_  just said to him, sending him a death-glare that was very much a warning to kill the Deer Spirit if he speaks one more word his ears will hear as an insult.

 _'Does he think this is a game?'_  He wondered, digging his claws into the rock. _'Is this his way to show that I am weak? Does he think I learned nothing from his teachings, let alone the lessons I learned from the Astral Plane?'_

The Stag morphed into his true-form, folding his arms over his chest.

 _ **If I had thought you are weak, why would I had sent that whale to save you**_ _after **you saved the world from the Kraang's Invasion?**_ He asked the teenager, a serious tone that told Leo to pay very close to what he says to him.  _ **I did not save you, as a simple debt to repay or a token of my personal appreciation.** -He kneeled before the black-wolf, placing a hoof-hand on the midsection of his back.-  **No. I did not save you, just to make us even… I saved you,** **brought** **you** here **, because you are needed.**_

His words confuses Leonardo to his meaning.

_'"Needed"? Needed, for what?'_

_**Faunus**_  stood up to his feet.

 _ **If you wish to know what I mean, then go to the peak.**_ He pointed one of his big hoof-finger to the top of the mountain, keeping his gaze on the humanoid-wolf/turtle.  _ **If you make an attempt to proceed and should you fall to your timely death, then I shall tolerate to your threat by allowing you to chase me for the rest of my days, in both the living and the Astral Plane, to your heart's content. However, should you make it to the top, you'll find something much greater than you would expect to see, let alone know about... And one more thing: Make sure to use that anger of yours, as your temporary source of energy to help you push on.**_

Leonardo's eyes widened to the spirit's words and the second he blinked,  _ **Faunus**_  vanished. He swallowed the lump that formed in his throat, still panting for breath and his paws continued to pulse from the cuts touching the rock he stood on.

He looked up to the peak of Talbot Mountain while the wind blew against his body with such force, as if attempting to either push him off the ledge and fall to his death, or to slam him onto the ground. Leo kept himself standing, as his gaze hardened into a glare at the top of the peak.

 _'I have to keep going,'_  he thought to himself.  _'And I **will**  make it to the top, no matter what!'_

He snarled and, ignoring the pain in his paws and the soreness in his body, launched himself onto the wall of the mountain and pushed himself to continue climbing*.

His claws dug deep into the tough surfaces of the rock, leaving small implants with each steps he makes into the mountain. His stomach now completely rested against the rock, keeping himself as flat as possible, while the wind keeps on trying to push him back and make him fall.

Leonardo wasn't going to let the wind win and let his own doubt to cloud his mind, not when he has come so far and is slowly making his way to the top. His paws slammed into the rock, his claws keeping him anchored when he would slightly loose his footing or feel his hind-legs slip from the smoothness of the stone.

He almost slip when his right-paw slammed into loose gravel and would've fallen to his death, if he didn't push his body to jump to his left and have his left-paw latch on to a smaller-ledge and leaving him dangling in the air.

 _'Don't give up. Don't **ever**  give up…!' _He chanted in his head, his lungs too busy to get air into his body and calm his racing heart to be able to talk out loud. Leonardo felt the cuts throb even more and even saw more spots of blood coating the mountain with each step he makes, but he kept on pushing.  _'Until I make it to the top, until I reach my destination, I **won't**  stop. I'll keep going, for myself… But, most of all, for my  **Pack**!'_

* * *

Finally, after thirteen minutes of climbing, near death attempts from slipping and continuous pulsing pain traveling from the pads of his paws to his limbs, the black-wolf pulled himself to a ledge that revealed to being part of a path towards the peak of Talbot Peak. He looked down at the mountain, unable to see exactly where other parts of the path is located.

 _'It must've went away as time went on, through the rain, possible rockslides or even some moments of earthquakes.'_  He suggested on the thought, as he slowly followed the faint tracks of a deer towards the direction of the peak.

…There, standing at the ledge of the peak, he saw the Stag. His back is turned towards the fifteen year-old teenager, keeping his gaze at the horizon before him, but the twitching of the ears being pulled back alerted Leo that he can hear him coming.

He heard a light chuckle from  _ **Faunus**_ , while keeping his gaze to the sight before him.

_**"You finally made it… I knew you would make it."** _

Leo slightly wagged his tail to the praise, though immediately stopped when he felt his tailbone protest from the nerves in his legs banging against his bones. He let out a small whimper to the pain, but pushed himself to walk over to the Deer Spirit and stood beside him.

When he saw what  _ **Faunus**_  was staring at, he thought he was going to drop dead and cry tears of joy: All around them, many rows of healthy pine and oak trees covered the ground. The few sighting of rivers and creeks, look be making a small-maze within the forest. Beyond the trees, strong mountains circled the area. To the far left of the forest, hills of green-grass that held small abundant of flowers can be sighted.

He couldn't see what lies beyond the hills and mountains, but Leonardo could've sworn he can hear the faint cries of wild horses from the wind, along with the sound of birds singing from down below. The sun stood over their heads, shining down it's rays of warmth to the plants and animals of the forest.

The sight is so breathtaking to the humanoid-wolf/turtle, that he completely forgotten how tired he was or how much pain his body is suffering from pushing himself to reach the top.

 _ **Faunus**_  looked very impressed and extremely proud of the black-wolf that stood beside him, as they continued gazing down at the land before them.

 _ **"Are you enjoying on what has awaited for you?"**_ He asked, though he already knew the answer to what Leo answered him with.

 _ **"It's even greater, than I ever dreamed of seeing."**_ A single tear trailed down his cheek, which he made no move to hide the overwhelming wave of emotions he's feeling or wipe it away.

Something glistened in  _ **Faunus**_ ' eyes that Leo didn't see, too busy admiring the view... Until the Deer Spirit said something that took him by surprise.

_**"If it's your desire, you can stay."** _

Cerulean/Sapphire-moon eyes widened, turning away from the horizon to stare into Obsidian-black eyes.

_**"W... What?"** _

_**Faunus**_  turned into his true-form before kneeling in front of the wolf, gently turning him to be face-to-face with him.

**_If you wish to remain here, instead of going back to New York, then you have my permission, my_ ** _blessing **, to stay in my forest for however long you wish to remain.**_

Leonardo swallowed the lump that returned in his throat, as his heart raced from what he was just told.

_**"...I... I can stay here... Forever?"** _

**_Faunus_**  offered him a silent smile.

_**If that is what you desire, then you may be here for the rest of your days. I will also, as my way to claim you as my family, bestow upon you the ability to use our powers as your own.** _

What  _ **Faunus**_  was offering him was something of great disbelief. Not only is he offering him a home to call his own, the freedom he sought out in his dreams, but to also give him the same powers that he and his brothers had been given when they turn into Deer Spirits.

 _ **Faunus**_ is offering him a choice to decide, for _himself_ , if he wants to leave for New York... Or stay in the forest, with him and  _ **Caela**_ , and become a protector amongst the animals and trees.

Leonardo had been thinking of when he must leave and go back to the city he was bred and lived in for all his life, but the longer he stays, the more he didn't want to go. There was so much he can learn from ** _Faunus_**  than Master Splinter could ever teach him from outside his lessons from his own father.

He turned his head to stare right back to the horizon before him, lost in it's beauty and all it appears to promise him to see for many years to come.

_'I wished for this moment to come... And now, it seems to finally came.'_

_**This is what you've wanted... Isn't it? Faunus**_ asked him, waiting patiently for an answer to his offer.

Leo turned to stare back at his friend... Then, let out a deep sigh.

_**"...I want it."** _

**TBC**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Honestly, I didn't expect this chapter to be short... But then, the next chapter will probably be long. To give you guys a heads up, the next chapter will be focusing on the Hamato Clan and April, during the time Leo was gone. Which, to me, is going to be a sort of a challenge to do but going to accomplish.
> 
> I know some of you don't like cliffhangers, but hey, they make the excitement all that greater to know what'll happen in the next chapter.
> 
> Also, because we don't know the true origin of the Deer Spirit, I decided to have his origin be from a story that's based from two Romanian colinde: Cantata Profana.
> 
> *: When I first saw the Deer Spirit, I thought he was really cool... Until, I saw the human hands, and thought there should be some parts of his body being wood. Something to make him look to being part of the forest, itself, and less likely to appearing a humanoid-deer when Leo's brothers first saw it.
> 
> *: I know guys are expecting to see what Leo had to do, but I feel like it should wait when the others hear about this as well... Trust me, you'll see.
> 
> *: At this point, he'll be climbing Talbot Peak kinda like how Mufusa from the Lion King climbed up in the gorge.
> 
> Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Years! God Bless!
> 
> R&R


	19. Tales of Leo

**July Eleventh, 2012; Three Weeks Ago: New York...  
** The citizens of New York are in the process of calming down, after their ordeal with Kraang's attempt on abducting them and taking over the city and then, the whole world. No human had any idea who stopped the aliens and how they're still here, but the animals of the city knew who saved them all.

It was three humanoid-turtles and the humanoid-wolf/turtle, Moon Scar, who saved them all.

Word immediately spread by the birds, who then carried their story to other neighboring states of the city and allowed them to pass on the message to other animals of the further parts of the land. The animals of New York hoped that their words travels beyond the land and ocean of the planet; not only to let all Earth Young learn how close to possible extinction they were from off-world trespassers… But, also, for all to keep an eye out for the humanoid-wolf/turtle, who disappeared the very day day Kraang was defeated and has not been seen since the fall of the Technodrome.

The birds saw the three humanoid-turtles and a human-girl escape the great ship before it sank to the bottom of the ocean, and not one of them could locate where the fourth turtle was underneath the waters... The only thing that they found that belonged to him, was a blue ninja-mask surfacing from below the waters and the waves carrying it towards the shoreline.

For four days, the strays and birds of New York searched for the humanoid-wolf/turtle. For four days and four nights, none stopped on their efforts to find the one who saved not only them, but the Earth, herself.

However, when the fifth night rolled by, some started to stop on the search for that need to focus on taking care of their youngs and/or finding new homes when their old one got damaged or destroyed by Kraang. Tomorrow, will be undecided on who will continue looking for Moon Scar and who will stop.

One thing the animals know for certain, even if they stopped looking, the three humanoid-turtles and human-girl won't stop on their own search for their missing pack member.

They search high and low for the oldest-turtle, always calling out his human name for him to reply back to, from early dusk till dawn. The human-girl, even in the middle of the day, would continue the search on her own, while hoping he hadn't been spotted by other humans and taken away to some lab for experimentation.

It pleases the animals that Moon Scar's Pack is also looking for their brother and leader... However, they know if the humanoid-wolf/turtle isn't found in a certain amount of time, it'll be a terrible A tragic day for all to have to conclude, to their forced decision, that he has died giving his life for all on Earth.

And when that day come, it'll be the hardest moment for his pack to accept.

* * *

 **July Seventeenth, a Week Later...  
** An orange-masked turtle sat on the couch of the living-room, playing Super Smash Brother Brawl on the television...  _Alone_. He asked his two older-brothers to play with him, but both turned down his offer: Donatello was too busy fixing the Shellraiser, with Kirby O'Neal assisting him, and Raphael preferred to train than waste time with video games. He would've asked April if she wanted to play with him, but was hanging out with some of her human friends at the mall and won't be back until tomorrow, since she'll be having a sleepover with them.

Ever since the invasion, April's father has been coming down and vising them lately, wanting to get to know the mutants that had protected his daughter from Kraang since his abduction and training her to protect herself if left on her own. He mostly comes over near the evening, about an hour before dinner starts for the Hamato Clan. During his visit, Splinter shows to enjoy the human's company and be able to spend time with somebody when it's tea time, since Le-

Michelangelo immediately shook his head and, realizing he hadn't been actually paying attention to what was happening in the game, ended up having to watch his Donkey Kong get blasted off the battlefield by the Computer Player as Samus Aran, costing him the game and naming Samus the winner.

"NOOOOO! DK!" Mikey cried out, falling to his knees in a dramatic way to express his horror to his sudden defeat in video games.

"Calm down, Mikey. It's just a video game." Donatello called out from his lab, still working on the Shellraiser.

The youngest-turtle chose to ignore his older-brother, too busy on looking at the screen, lost in thoughts on how he could've let himself get distracted from playing video games when he was so close to victory. Only to know why he let it slip right out of his grasp: Because his mind went to thinking about his big brother, Leonardo, who may or may not be in New York... Or even alive, for that matter. He didn't like to think so negative, let alone believe that thought to be true, but his mind couldn't find any reason to convince himself, otherwise.

It was just two days ago, while still looking for their big brother, that they searched at the shoreline for the twentieth time and failed on finding him... However, they did ended up finding a blue-bandana that they knew belonged to Leo.

Since finding the abandoned ninja-mask, none were certain on what to think. They head back to the Lair, where they encounter their father and present them with what he gave to the eldest-turtle when they were six. Once given the mask, all the fifty year-old father did was clench it to his chest and head for his room, most likely to meditate... Or, in their own opinions, mourn in solitude.

They still continued to search for Leo, but as each day passes and with each unsuccessful attempts to finding him, the more each of the brothers started to believe they won't find their missing brother and will have to face the unfortunate possibility that he's-.

Michelangelo felt tears filling his eyes, which he immediately wiped away, sniffling a bit.

"Don't think that," he whispered to himself. "He's can't be dead. Leo can't be defeated that easily. He  _wouldn't_ go down without a fight, so there's no way that giant-brain alien could-... Well, Leo would find a way to escape and pull a Batman on anyone if he's recovering from whatever injuries he got from Kraang-zilla."

A part of him knew he was making up another excuse to hold on to that small glimmer of hope that his big brother will turn up, but he didn't care. Mikey already knew how close the others are at having to accept that Leonardo is gone when they haven't found his body, let alone his swords, and he feels he would be the one to hold on to that hope for all of them. The only one who supported his decision to keep believing Leo is alive is April, who stated that she can still 'feel' him.

Donatello would claim that he believes that, too, but mostly because he didn't want to upset the girl and admit to doubting her unexplainable 'gift' she has. And Raphael... While he seems to, also, doubt Mikey and April's reason to not accept the possibility that Kraang killed Leo, he wasn't going to give up on the search for his twin-brother.

Master Splinter, clearly, showed to having to already given up the instant he was given the ninja-mask. On each of the bandanas, there's a faint Kanji symbol of the Hamato Clan on the right-side of the masks, next to the right-eye. Of course, he had given them spares should their current masks gets damaged or they, somehow, lost it. But the mask he held in his hand, he is certain to being the very mask he gave to Leo, for it's faint scent of incense that only he had possession of*.

His father's response and reluctance to help then look for Leo hurt the orange-masked turtle, only to soon find out that humanoid-rat would meditate to look for the oldest-turtle on his own investigation, which always lead him to finding nothing. If Splinter is unable to locate Leonardo in the Astral Plane or get some answer to find out what became of him when the Technodrome sank, then it was no wonder he was so quick as to quit searching for his eldest-son.

Despite learning his father's failure and inability to locate his big brother, Michelangelo was more determine to go look for him

 _'When I needed help, Leo was always there to help me. Shell, he came back and **saved**  me from Kraang!' _He heart clenched from the utmost reason why he wants to keep looking: Guilt that he almost got himself killed by Kraang and that his brother, not only risked his life to save his, but delayed them from immediately escaping the Technodrome when they were a good distance away from their enemy.

To Mikey,  _he_  was the one to force Leo to stay behind and hold back Kraang, allowing them to escape before crashing into the ocean.

_'We need to find him... **I**  need to find him, no matter what.'_

He attention on video game, waiting for him to decide to continue playing or to quit. And immediately, he or pressed 'Continue' and resumed his battle against the Computer Player, Samus Aran... Only, this time, he played as Lucario.

_'I'll find you, Bro. Even if the guys and Sensei stopped searching, I won't stop until I find you... Dead, even, so long we actually find **you**  and not some piece of your armor, because you helped me when I needed you.'_

* * *

**Flashback, Nine Years Ago…  
** "For the thousandth time, Mikey, I'm not going to help you find your Game Guy!" Six year-old Raphael yelled at his youngest-brother, who was grabbing him by the leg and pleading for him to help him look for his small game-system.

"But Raphie, I need your help to find it!" The youngest-turtle pleaded, giving him his big, puppy-dog eyes to get him to change his mind. "I promise to leave you alone, if you do it. Please?"

Raphael raised a brow at his brother, very much irritated of his baby-brother bothering him when all he wants to is keep pummeling the practice dummy their father set up for them to us as target practice to enhance their punches and kicks.

"You said that the last time you lost something, and guess what? You kept on bothering me, because you wanted me to play video games with you!"

The youngest of the quadruplets already knew that, but is very determine to get his older-brother to play with him and not be cast aside, like their purple-masked brother had done. So, pulling his ultimate trump card, his eyes watered a bit and his lower lip quivered.

"Pwease, Raphie?"

Out of all of the Hamato members, Raphael is the second to least likely to fall for the puppy-eye trick the youngest would pull, but when seeing the small tears in his eyes and quivering lip, set off the warning bells on his head. Michelangelo is threatening him in a situation where he would allow himself to cry, acting or serious, and make the second-eldest look like the bad guy to their father for hurting his brother's feelings.

He had to act fast and think you a quick plan to avoid possible punishment, before the waterworks kicks in.

"Uh... Did you asked Donnie?" That got the youngest-turtle's eyes to water even more.

"He wouldn't help me, and kicked me out of his lab." He whimpered.

Then, out of the blue, Raph's thoughts went to his older-twin.

"What about Leo?" He quickly asked, feeling a slight hope of relief when seeing the confused look on the orange-masked turtle's face. That was his ticket to freedom. "He's been in the living room the whole time after morning training, right? He may have seen it."

The red-masked turtle silently prayed for somebody from above to let his lie work, and save him from his baby brother's threat to get him in trouble for something he didn't do.

...Luckily, the orange-masked turtle bought his lie.

"Okay. I'll go see Leo!" Immediately, the tears went away and the puppy-eyes turned back to normal pairs of eyes, no traces of sadness is left on the freckle-faced turtle, and began to skip out of the dojo and head for the living room.

Raphael let out a big sigh of relief, mouthing the words 'thank you' to the air above him, before turning back to the practice dummy* and proceed to punching it to his heart's content.

Outside of the dojo, Michelangelo scoped out for his big brother with such determination to find his missing Game Guy. He already thought about looking for the blue-masked turtle in his room, but remembered that Splinter had told him, after training, to do something outside of his bedroom. And he knew, for a fact, that he would never go to the kitchen, even if he was thirsty.

So, the most logical choice for the youngest on where to find his big brother, is the living room. And when he went over to the couch, he found his guess to being correct when he saw the blue-masked turtle, laying on his plastron on one of the two couches, focusing on the cushion instead of the TV.

A sudden thought came to Mikey's head, making him grin a wicked smile on his face. Slowly, and as quietly as he became, went behind the couch his brother laid on and took a deep breath. He counted down the numbers in his head, planning to make his move on three, when...

"Don't even think about it." The instant Leonardo finished his sentence, Michelangelo, with his cover blown, ended up blowing a raspberry, some spit flying and jumping off of his lips in the process*. His plan to scare his brother by screaming his name, foiled.

With his cover blown, Mikey launched himself to the otherside the couch.

"How did you know what I was going to do?" He asked his big brother, who continued to stare at what was beneath him on the cushion.

"I'm your big brother. I know everything," he answered. "Now, what is it that you want?"

Michelangelo gave him a confused look.

"I thought you knew everything," he replied. Taking a closer look, he noticed paper underneath his brother, a green color-pencil held in his right-hand. His curiosity got the best of him. "What you drawing, Bro?"

He didn't cease his drawing, but Leo did acknowledged him by answering his question.

"I don't know." His answer earned him an odd look from Mikey.

"You're drawing, and you don't know what it is?"

On the piece of paper, is a well done drawing of a plainfield of grass, underneath blue-sky and, behind the field, a few greyish-mixed purple mountains. The colors blended so well and mixed together in a certain pattern, that words couldn't even describe how much work and talent the blue-masked turtle has in art.

He was so taken back by what he sees, Michelangelo completely forgotten about the search for his missing Game Guy and now found a new interest to do.

"Dude… This. Is… Awesome!" He complimented, having his brother to blush from both shyness, and embarrassment. "Can you teach me how to draw like you? Please?!"

Leonardo was completely taken back to his brother's request. While he knows of Mikey's interest of drawing, having the orange-masked turtle asking him to help him with a talent they both share to enjoy is something he never expected to happen.

Lifting his gaze to look up to the youngest-turtle, he gave him a smile of reassurance.

"I don't think I can teach you how to draw exactly like me, Mikey." He answered, confusing the orange-masked turtle and having a look of disappointment.

"How come?" He asked.

Sitting up from the couch, Leo faced his baby brother.

"Because everyone has a unique talent that is unique only to them," he started to explain. "You see, Mikey, people who are skilled in art, all have their own unique talent and gift on how they make art come to life in their own way. Because of that, it's physically impossible for anybody to copy another's style of art. I mean, many would try, but under the trained eye of a professional, they'll be able to tell the difference between the real thing and what's fake."

Michelangelo, who understood what his big brother is trying to tell him, couldn't stop the disappointment to appear on his face when given the news. His eyes watered, staring down at the beautiful picture his brother made on his own that he wish to be able to do, too.

Leonardo watch as his brother slowly pouted, which he knew will lead to sobbing and then crying. Unlike Raphael and Donatello, the blue-masked turtle isn't that all fazed when their baby-brother breaks down into tears. Real, or just to gain attention by putting on a show. And whenever dealt with a situation where the orange-masked turtle is going to let out the water works, the blue-masked turtle would find ways to prevent them from going off.

And, right now, he knew exactly what to do.

Underneath his drawing, a few extra sheet of paper are pulled out. Pulling out one of them, he held it out to the youngest, who immediately stopped his silent sobs that were starting to form. Mikey gazed at his big-brother, confused.

"Here," the eldest turtle said.

Still confused, Mikey gently took the paper from Leo, who then pulled out a pencil box that held a bunch of pencils mixed in with other coloring pencils. Pulling out another blank piece of paper for himself, Leo got off the couch and laid on the floor.

He looked up at the still confused Mikey, who he gave a small-smile.

"I won't be able to get you to draw like I do. However, what I  _can_  do is show you some other drawing techniques that you may use to perfect your own drawing. Only if you wish to, that is."

Baby-blue eyes widened to the offer Leo is giving to him. His heart raced with anticipation, finding hope to do copy what his brother's doing, as his mind is ready and excited to be learning something new that he can do with his drawing.

Immediately, the tears were gone and dropped down to the ground in front of Leonardo, a blue colored-pencil in hand, waiting for the blue-masked turtle to give him lessons on certain art styles he never knew about.

For the next hour, the oldest and the youngest Hamato Brothers drew, enjoying in each other's company: One of them, taking pleasure at interacting with one of his big brothers. While they other brother, proud to get the orange-masked turtle to do something creative than waste time searching and playing with his missing game-system.  
 **End of Flashback**

* * *

Pausing the game, he got up to his feet and made his way to his bedroom. Beyond the room that's littered with pizza boxes, old toys, clothing that, for some reason, he keeps and will wear from time to time, is a dresser at the far left-corner of the room. Heading immediately for the furniture, Michelangelo pulled the drawer. There, within the drawer, are stacks of papers of his drawings he's done in the past. However underneath his drawing, is one particular picture he kept very good care of. Pushing aside his creations, he pulled out the drawing that always served as a reminder of his brother's kindness and how he views the orange-masked turtle.

It was the picture of the plainfield of grass, with the blue-sky hanging over the field and the mountains from behind... And, for the finishing touch to the picture: A pure-black Mustang, standing at the very top of the hill, waving it's front-hooves in the air while standing on it's hind-legs.

Mikey smiled at the magnificent creature his big brother drew, gently running his fingers over the horse, marveled at the littlest details Leo put in to create the Mustang.

As they were drawing to their hearts' content, not only did Leonardo have him great drawing tips to help him improve his drawing, but also found his missing Game Guy, which was hiding underneath the couch, after the orange-masked turtle dropped it from sleeping on the couch in the middle of the day. Mikey was thrilled to have found his missing game-system, though didn't feel the need to play it right now and wanted to draw a few more things before afternoon training starts.

When Splinter announced his sons to clean up and get ready for training, Leonardo finished drawing the black-Mustang and, as Mikey took his drawings to his bedroom, gave him his drawing to keep. Of course, Mikey refused, not seeing it right to take something that clearly belongs to his brother, but Leo convinced him to have it as a gift.

"Besides," he said. "I was finally able to finish it, because of you."

To this very day, Michelangelo treasured the picture his brother made and, had it serve as a reminder what the two share is special and unique, to the both of them. Written in black colored-pencil, underneath the black-horse, there was a special writing the blue-masked turtle written that pushed the orange-masked turtle to be who he was:

 ** _強大なムスタングのように、誰かにあなたやあなたの精神を引きずり込ませたり、風のように素早くさせないでください。_** (Never let anyone, or anything, drag you or your spirit down, and be swift as the wind, like the mighty Mustang.)

A tear slid down his cheek, which he quickly wiped away before it could land on the drawing, before setting it down on his desk. A smile spread on his face.

 _'I promise, Leo.'_  He thought.  _'I won't let anything drag me down... So long as I know that some way, some how, that you're still alive, I won't let anyone, or anything, pull me down.'_

* * *

 **July Twenty-Second, Five Days Later…  
** "Almost done... Just a little bit more Sulfur, and that should-"

"Hey, Donnie!" Michelangelo's yelling, practically in his ear, caused Donatello to jerk and spill his chemical experiment he's been working on for over a month and a half all over the counter, with the beaker shattering into shards when crashed to the ground.

Both gaze down the destroyed glad that held the clear-liquid, then stared at each other. Donatello glared daggers down at the orange-masked turtle, who gave our a nervous chuckle.

"Oops," he said. "Sorry about that, Bro."

Clearly, the purple-masked turtle didn't approve his apology that easily. His reddish-brown eyes simply narrowed, as a low groan of anger could be heard in his chest.

"I've been working on that experiment for over a month, Mikey." He growled out, making the youngest-turtle to be more nervous send a little scared of his older-brother towering him. "Now, I gotta redo the whole thing, again."

He turned his shell to his brother and walked across his lab to grab for a rag and broom, muttering his annoyance on how much longer he'll have to wait to see the results of his experiment... Along with wanting to show it to April to impress her what his experiment will be able to do for the city of New York.

Eyeing at the damage breaker on the floor, Michelangelo noticed other breakers holding the same clear-liquid the last breaker held.

"Hey, Donnie, how come there are more of those liquids over here? Why not use these with whatever you're doing?" He asked, making an attempt to grab one, only to have Donatello grab his hand and pulling it away from his other experiments.

"Because, Mikey, each of those beakers are in the cleansing process from each parts of the sewers' waters that's at about a two mile radius from the Lair. If I add water from a different area of the sewer, it'll contaminate the cleansing process and ruin the experiment.  _-He set the beaker back in it's spot, then turned his head to stare at his only younger-brother.-_ What are you even doing here, anyway, Mikey?"

The orange-masked turtle, who was still a little hurt by his brother's angry voice, gave him a gloomy look.

"Master Splinter wanted me to come get you out of the lab," he answered. "You've been in here for days, Bro."

His claim to how long he's been inside his sanctuary, startled the purple-masked turtle.

"'Days'?" He repeated, losing the anger he had towards Mikey. "That can't be right. I've been in for hours!"

The youngest-turtle raised a non-existing brow, crossing his arms over his plastron and lightly tapping his left-foot. He, Raphael and Splinter expected this to happen.

"What day is it, Dee?" He asked, though he already knows he'll answer question with the wrong answer.

"It's the... Twentieth. Right?" The genius turtle cautiously answered, his sleep deprived making him not being truly clear of the day.

Michelangelo, disproved if response, pointed a finger to the older-turtle's computer.

"Dude, go see what today is."

Donatello did as his brother told him to do, and was shocked to find what is computer told him what today is. Immediately, he realized his mistake, and why their father has sent Michelangelo to retrieve him from his lab.

"Oh, no." He grumbled, gently slapping himself in the face.

"Yeah, and he said that if you don't come out, he's going to drag you out, by the cheek, and lock the doors to your lab for a week."

In the back of his mind, the genius turtle felt like Mikey was lying to him by the warning threat. He also noticed that, without thinking, the orange-masked turtle rhymed the last to part of his sentence.

Irritated, Donnie made his way to the youngest-turtle, narrowing his eyes.

"Did he  _actually_  told you that specific threat, word for word, Mikey?"

Immediately, Michelangelo realizes his mistake by bringing up the cheek threat to the purple-masked turtle. in no way, no how, their father ever threatened them by saying he was going to grab them by the cheek; he would already be doing it, without uttering a word.

Also, while Master Splinter would want his intelligent son to not spend his entire time in his lab, twenty-four/seven... The humanoid-rat hasn't been talkative lately, let alone fully aware on what's going on amongst his…  _Three_  sons.

Seeing the fear in his baby-blue eyes, Donatello knew, without a doubt, that the orange-masked turtle lied to him and has purposely interrupted his work.

" _Mikey_ …"

Knowing he's been caught, Mikey found no reason to keep lying to his older-brother anymore. And so, he got down to his knees before his brother, two-hands held together.

"Please, come out, Dee." He cut right down to the chase, giving him his big, puppy-dog eyes.

Donatello kept glaring down at his brother. Completely unaffected by Mikey's Puppy-Eyes of Doom.

"I need to finish my work, Mikey." He told him, heading back to his table to restart Beaker "SE47".

Irritated at being ignored and his own concern for his older-brother being tossed aside, Michelangelo just about had it. And so, decided to pull up another one of his trump cards.

"If you don't stop with your experiment and come out of your lab, I'll get Raph to drag you out."

Again, Donatello felt the chill of fear crawling down his shell and spine. Out of the three who can bring him out of his sanctuary, Raphael is the one capable to physically drag him out. Not only that, but his way of handling the purple-masked turtle is to do a suflex or, worse, a pile drive, leaving the genius turtle with pain that can last for almost an entire month.

With Master Splinter's threat and reasoning to get him out of the lab, Donnie can handle. But Raphael's methods, is almost a fate worse than death.

"You... You wouldn't."  _'Please, **please** , for once, have him in a bad mood and spare me from Mikey's threat.' _He silently begged for somebody up above to hear his plea and save him.

Sadly for him, no one was going to save him. Michelangelo gave him a slide smile and, purposely, let out a deep gasp of breath to fill his lungs to the fullest.

"RAA-!" Immediately, Donatello covered the orange-masked turtle's mouth with both of his hands, cutting off the yell just in time.

The genius turtle knew he has no other choice, but to give in, if he wants to avoid Raph getting involved.

"Alright," he said. "I'll come out."

Satisfied, Michelangelo made a bunch of muffling sounds, talking very fast and excited. No doubt, Don guessed he was naming up a bunch of things to do together. He knows better than to try and talk him out of the plan, unless he wants to risk having Raphael brought in.

He released the orange-masked turtle, who immediately took off to who knows where. Left all alone, Donatello let out an annoyed sigh of breath, lifting part of his mask up to rub his eyes to rid away the drowsiness that held in his chocolate-brown eyes.

 _'That little Terror,'_ he thought.  _'Can't he, for once, learn to take a hint and leave me to my work?'_

He stared at the multiple breakers on his work bench, all showing no activity or response to the compounds he added into the liquids he collected from the sewers. He walked to the table, glaring at them as if willing himself to use his non-existing heat-vision and disintegrate them.

 _'I was certain there would've been more results. Why will none of them start dissolving?!'_ He let out a groan of frustration, grabbing his head when a headache formed... Then, let out a very long sigh, feeling defeated.  _'...How could this have gone wrong?'_

That time, he isn't referring to his experiment. He's referring to what he refused to bring up, eleven days ago.

The day he, Hamato Donatello, is convinced that their big brother, Leonardo, is dead, and tried to tell his remaining brothers that they need to face that terrible fact.

Needless to say, neither of them took his words very well: Michelangelo was using every ounce of energy to not break down and cry, while Raphael... He decided to leave him with a black-eye and a very-bruised lip. The genius turtle is just grateful that Master Splinter and Mikey stopped the red-masked turtle from punching one of his teeth out to make the gap of his tooth any bigger.

April, herself, claimed he is wrong and that she can still feel him, despite not understanding why or having any proof to back up her claim.

He wanted very much to believe her. He really did, and not just because his crush towards the redhead wants him to do whatever it takes for her to like him just as much as he does towards her.

He truly wants his brother to be alive, wherever he is, and bring him home.

 _'There's so much I need to say to him,'_ he thought.  _'He's done so much for us, including myself, that I took his help for granted. Even when it's to get me to put down my work and go to bed.'_

* * *

 **Flashback, Seven Years Ago...  
** "A few turns, and that should just about do it." Eight year-old Donatello said to himself, turning the last two screws into the little toy car he made from scraps and parts Master Splinter found while scavenging for supplies.

Earlier, on TV, he watch how people made their own remote control toy car and watching what they do inspired the young turtle to do the same. For the whole week, the tell genius requested his father to look for certain parts that he needed to make both the remote control and the car, itself. Some of the parts he needed took a little longer for Splinter to find, but in the end, after nearly two weeks a progress, he just about finished.

With his trusty screwdriver, Donatello made the first two turns, tightening the screws that held the wheels to the car.

Just as he was about to finish the third turn...

"Donnie." A voice from behind made the purple-masked turtle to jump, letting out a high-pitch yelp, dropping his screwdriver from his hand. Turning, eyes wide, he saw the intruder being his big brother, Leonardo.

Judging by the sheen of his forest-green skin, he just got out of the shower, appearing to be much fresher and relaxed than he did during evening training. He also noticed a few parts of his shell looking a lot better, considering all four of them are in the process of shedding their scutes.

Nevertheless, seeing that it was his blue-masked brother who dares to intervene with his creation, made Donatello a not so very happy turtle.

"Leo!" He yelled, placing a hand over his chest to calm his beating heart. "What is it with you and sneaking up on me?! What are you even doing here?"

Unfazed by his brother's attitude and response to his choice of making an appearance, Leonardo calmly answered his question.

"There will come a time where you shouldn't have your guard lowered, even if we're living in the sewers. As for why I'm here.  _-He pointed a finger to the clock hanging on the wall, directing Don's attention to the time.-_ It's time for bed."

The clock reads  **9:13** and, because he's been his lab since finishing dinner, Donatello found his brother's claim to be true. His joy on finishing his toy immediately drained away.

And, as any eight year-old child would do when told to do something that don't want to do, he complained.

"But Leo, I'm just about finished making the car." He stated, presenting the almost completed toy he made with his own bare hands. "Please, give me a few more minutes?"

The blue-masked turtle simply folded his arms over his chest, shaking his head from side to side.

"Master Splinter sent me to get you to bed," he replied. "We also have training tomorrow, so it's best to hold off your invention until after breakfast."

Donatello already knew his big brother wouldn't agree to his request, but even that didn't mean he wouldn't start throwing a tantrum.

"I need to do this, Leo!" He whined, throwing his goggles onto the table. "It's really important that I finish this! Why can't you and the others see that?! None of you understand how much this means to me!"

Leonardo narrowed his eyes into cold slits, lifting part of his lips to showoff his shiny, sharp teeth. He let out a low growl, shutting Donnie right up from his continuous outburst of demanding to be allowed to continue working on the car and how unfair the oldest-turtle is being.

The instant he went quiet, did Leo went silent, too.

"Are you done?" He asked, keeping his glare on his brother. Unable to make a sound underneath the burning gaze, Don nodded his head. "Good. Now, I'm going to start talking and you're going to listen. All right?" He earned another nod from his purple-masked brother. "Okay. First: You've been in your lab since dinner. That was over three hours ago, and that's not including the two hours you spent in your lab after lunch and the other three after breakfast. Meaning, you've wasted eight hours cooped up in your own lab, without any interaction with Raph, Mikey, Sensei or even myself, outside of morning and afternoon training session."

Donatello blushed at the information, eyes wide and astonished at his big brother for the info.

_'He actually kept track on how long I spent in the lab, all day?'_

"Second: You know that Master Splinter has us on a schedule that we need to follow, especially since we'll end up having to do more time into our training sessions when we get older. However, because we are children and, though both training sessions are only an hour long, we need to follow a certain sleep pattern to regain whatever energy we used up to remain active and healthy. I wouldn't need to tell you this, if you hadn't been slacking off in training from your little 'Night Projects' you would do until dawn."

Fear flashed in Don's brownish-red eyes.

 _'He knew?!'_ "H… How-?"

"Don... Whose room is next to yours?" Leo asked, giving his answer to his brother in the form of a question. "And Sensei already knew, himself, that you've been waiting, in the middle of the night, to sneak into your lab and do your little projects through the rest of the night, just by seeing how much you keep nodding off… Plus, you have a knack for not closing the door to your lab all the way."

The purple-masked turtle screamed 'Stupid!' in the back of his mind at himself, for letting himself get caught so easily of his attempt to continue working on his most important work before Fall comes around.

"And finally:... I can't believe you would say an object, a meaningless possession, would be far more important to you, than your own health and safety." His eyes remained cold, but the Cerulean/Sapphire color of his irises showed no signs of hatred. Only concern for the second youngest-turtle. "You may be right that none of us understand your passion for science and inventing, but you'll have to accept that certain activities you grow to love can't be place over what's actually important in your life."

Donatello took his words to heart on what he's telling him to hear. Yes, he knew how much he needed to sleep and, yes, because they're eight years old, they need plenty of sleep to get through the day. However, to the genius turtle, there were many things on TV and interesting facts from the free books that possess, that he couldn't help but get lost in the wonders if science and technology.

He was just so excited and thrilled on what both has to offer, that he began to neglect without thinking about the consequences his negligent to his own well-being was taking a serious toll on himself... And, without realizing it, ignoring how brothers and father, in the process.

 _'I knew my curiosity for inventing and science would demand my attention, but I never realize how much it's taking my attention from my family.'_ He bowed his head, ashamed of himself for his outburst and comments he made to his big brother. "I'm sorry, Leo."

Leonardo's eyes turned from narrow slits to normal, round eyes. He gave him a sad-smile, came up to his brother and placed a hand on his right-shoulder.

"Now do you see it's important to stop when you must?" He asked, earning a nod for an answer. "Good. Now, go brush your teeth and head on to bed, before Master Splinter gets here and decides to lock your lab for a day."

Donnie knew it was light-hearted threat, but both knew their sensei would very well do so if he doesn't listen to Leo's warning. He got out of his chair and made his way to the direction for the bathroom.

Before leaving the room, his brother's voice made him freeze in his steps.

"When you finish this, you should show it to us." Leonardo suggested, eyeing at the toy car on the table. "The guys and Sensei will be very amazed on what you can make and do, for the Lair… I know I find this very cool."

Joy spread in the younger-turtle's from his brother's compliment of his car. In his mind, he was more than happy to show Leo what parts their father found to help make the car and how he's able to make it work, but his eyes reminded him that he needs to go to sleep. So, he decided with a compromise.

"I will," he promised. "When it's done, I'll show it to you guys."  
 **End of Flashback...**

* * *

Donatello pinched the bridge of his beak with two of his three fingers, feeling a headache building up and his eyes struggling to stay open.

 _'I need more coffee_ _…_ ' He thought to himself, heading to his computer to grab for his coffee mug that still had some coffee left. As he reached for the handle of the cup, over his head, something caught his attention. Looking up, he saw what he hadn't seen so long ago: The toy car he made, at the age of eight, seven years ago.

Just as he promised to Leo, after morning training and breakfast, he finished the last adjustment to the small-toy and proudly showed it off to his brothers and father. Even before he gotten the chance to demonstrate it on how it functions through a controller he, also, made, Raphael and Michelangelo were very much ecstatic to finally have a toy to play with. Splinter, himself, was beyond impressed on how his genius son was capable of making a toy with scraps he found in the sewers, never certain if they could be useful at all.

As Don showed them how it worked, Leonardo gave him a proud smile. Getting any form of praise from his big brother, is just as equally satisfying to Donatello as it was getting praises by their father.

Of course, as he should've expected, Michelangelo pasteurized Don to let him try the toy car. Barely five minutes later, somehow, he destroyed the remote control and made the toy crash into the wall. That ended with Raphael chasing the youngest-turtle all over the Lair and both of them being punished in the Dojo by performing ten flips and five Kanku Sho Katas.

Don did fix the toy, but decided to not fix the controller. He also decided to keep the car in his bedroom, to hide it from Mikey until the guys hit puberty and Don was tall enough to put the toy on the high-shelf of his lab.

For over four years, he never once looked at the first toy he made... Until now.

Reaching out, he grabbed the car off the shelf, staring at the few rusts and chipped paint that covered the once, proud toy he made with his own hands. A tear made it's way into his mask.

"You believed in me," he whispered. "Every project, experiment, even some crazed idea I would blurt out, you always gave me the confidence to try. No matter how the results would turn out, successful or complete fail, you were always there to show your support.  _-More tears fell from his eyes, one or two of them dripping off his mask and landing on the toy.-_ And now, when I'm trying to find solid evidence that you're either deceased or alive, I'm left with nothing."

His nose went stuffy, as he wiped his tears away with his arm.

"Not finding anything should make me feel hopeful. That, in some way, Mikey and April are right about you being alive, and could be somewhere in the city... But, I can't, Leo. No matter what, even if a fairy godmother that Mikey keep thinking we have like in Cinderella suddenly appears out of thin air, I need to find facts to prove for certain that it's real."

"Yo, Don! You coming out?!" Michelangelo's voice brought him out of his conversation with nobody but himself and the toy car in his hand. "I'm putting on a movie, and it involves popcorn! You better come out, before I eat it all!"

His stomach growled from the sound of food, startling the purple-masked turtle of his lack of eating as of late. Now that Mikey has stopped him from his work, his body was making him feel every ache, hunger and lack of sleep he didn't noticed for quite some time.

Knowing he won't be getting back to work until he satisfy his baby-brother's demands for attention, he set the toy car on the table and made his way outside of his lab.

_'While I can't deny what the facts are telling me… So long Mikey and April claim that Leo is still alive... I **won't**  object to their lack of evidence being unreasonable.'_

* * *

**July Thirtieth; Eight Days Later...  
** _*Thump* *Thump* *Thump* *Thump* *Thump* *Thump* *Thump*_

His punches are going at a rhythm, catching small gasp of breath in the process, pushing himself to keep going.

_*Thump* *Thump* *Thump* *Thump* *Thump* *Thump* *Thump*_

Massive amount of splinter went flying as he continues punching a wooden beam he set up before him, ignoring the protest in his knuckles of wood digging into the scabs of his hands.

 _'Stupid Kraang... Stupid Lava-Rock Monsters... Stupid Kraang... Stupid Foot... Stupid **Kraang** …!' _Rage-filled tears clouded his eyes, as his teeth clenched tightly together and formed a snarl of anger at the wooden pull he set up before him. While a wooden pull stands before him, his mind made him think of the aliens he and his brothers had encounter and beaten many times since their first adventures to the surface world.

...And since the day they saved the world, his hatred towards the aliens grew over a thousand folds, on account they were the reason to Leonardo's dea-...  _Disappearance._

He let out a snarl of frustration, now grabbing the pole by both hands and decided to start bashing his head against the damage wood.

 _'Damn it. Damn it...! DAMN IT!'_ His voice roared in his mind, repeatedly slamming his skull at the pole, ignoring the blood surfacing from good head or the massive headache ramming his brain like a freight train.

He kept on headbutting the pole until, after fifteen seconds, it split in two. With his opponent completely destroyed, all Raphael could do was just breath.

...Then, his body slowly went down to kneel before the bottom half of the pole... His bleeding hands on both of his side...  _Tears_ mixing with the blood gliding down his face and through his mask.

He struggled to keep his sobs down to a minimal, only to be making light choking sounds when each sniffles he made banged against plastron.

"...Why?" He choked out, his eyes staring down at the tatami mat beneath him and the broken wooden-pole. "Why did you have to stay behind...? Why did you make us leave you behind...? Why did you  _sacrificed_  yourself... ?"

He lowered the top-half of his body forward, bowing over the pole before him. He placed a hand over his face, slightly to wipe away the blood but mostly in a futile attempt to conceal the fact that he's crying.

With one hand over his face, the other clenched into a fist and started banging against the ground.

"Stupid Leo... You stupid...! Unselfish jerk!  _-He raised his head to stare up at the ceiling, blood and tears gliding down his face and neck.-_ Why couldn't you be selfish, for once, and escape with us...? Why couldn't you be  _selfish_!"

Raphael already knew the answer: Because Leonardo is never selfish. Besides his running away, which he, himself, caused to happen, his older-twin brother always put the needs of his brothers and Sensei before his own. Even as toddlers and young children, he never asked or demanded for anything for himself.

...However, being unselfish always has a drawback: If not careful, others will take advantage of those who are unselfish their kindness, abuse their aid as an act of charity... But most damning of all, those who are unselfish and wise to know what needs to be done, always end up choosing the hard way.

And that's what Leonardo just did: In order to save all life on Earth, including his friends and family, he chose to stay behind. He purposely chose to remain in the Technodrome, with the giant Kraang, so his brothers and April can escape.

in a ceremonial fashion, Raphael grabbed for his mask and pulled it off of his face. With his face bare, he stared down at the empty spaces his own eyes stared through.

At a young age, he and his brothers were given these masks when they've proved themselves worthy to wear them as the new generation of Hamato Clan ninjas... But they also served as a reminder of the many risks they will take... Even if it means they will die.

Raphael knows that rule very well... Leonardo made sure he understands what wearing the mask will cost them.

* * *

 **Flashback: Four Years Ago...**  
Eleven year-old Raphael released his perfectly tuned fight engine* upon the practice dummy, venting his anger on his poor victim.

Today, they were perfecting speed by doing a little game of Ninja Tag. And, of course, Leonardo has shown to process such great speed by avoiding to get tagged by any of his brothers, getting the most praised by Master Splinter out of the four turtles.

While his older-twin brother passed the training session, Raphael has been the victim of being it the most. And every time he missed tagging one of his brothers, his anger would get the best of him and would chase whoever was in his line of vision. When he finally caught one of his brothers, his victim being Donatello, he all but body slammed him to the ground.

He got scolded for letting his anger get the better of him, which resulted a massive bruise to appear on the back of Don's head. And for his punishment: No TV for a week, and he has to do Don's share of the chores.

He isn't angry about being grounded from watching TV or that he has to do Don's share of the chores, which he knew it's fair while the purple-masked turtle recovers from the bruise. What he's angry, is his anger getting the best of him...  _Again_. Also, at Leo for being praised and easily winning the training session with no problems at all.

"Why does he always have to showoff to us?" He growled, punching the dummy in the stomach. "If he didn't have to showoff like that, I wouldn't had to jump Donnie too hard."

He then grabbed the dummy to him and proceed to slam his knee into the same area, before he sank teeth into the leather material and pulled at it's arms with both hands. in mere minutes, Raphael has succeeded in dismembering the dummy of it's arms and head.

With his victim destroyed, the red-masked adolescence continued seething with rage, standing over the dummy. Not one ounce of regret in his bone on destroying their practice dummy.

"You really gave it to him, this time." A voice pulled Raph's attention from the dummy and looked over his shoulder, eyeing the intruder with such rage that he might as well gained Superman's heat-vision.

"What do you want, Leo?" He growled out, not wanting to see his twin at the moment while still caught up in his anger.

"I came to check up on you," the blue-masked turtle answered. "You've been here for over an hour, since practice ended. Sensei sent me to make sure you're all right. Although  _-His eyes stared down at the dismembered dummy on the ground.-_ It doesn't look like the dummy survived your brutal attacks...  _Again_."

Raph glared at his brother about the condition of the dummy. Sure, both of it's arms and head are torn from the body, and there are tears in certain parts of the chest and stomach area to expose it's insides being a sack, but that didn't mean they can't use the remains of the dummy while Splinter repairs it, for the thirty-sixth times.

"You gonna tattle on me?" He asked, clenching and unclenching his hands to try and calm himself down. "Get me into more trouble than I'm already in?"

"I'm not going to inform anything what Master Splinter already knows," the eldest-brother answer. "As for the predicament you had gotten yourself into-"

"All because you chose to showoff during training!" Raphael barked out, stomping over to Leo. "We know how better you are in training than we are, because of your 'Special Training Sessions' with Sensei, but you didn't have to make it so obvious by making it hard for us to catch you!"

Leonardo simply stared eye-to-eye with his younger-twin, who clearly demanded to know why he didn't play the same level like the rest of his brothers… Then, without warning, the blue-masked turtle slapped Raph upside the head.

"Hey!" The red-masked turtle yelled, resting a hand to where he was struck. "Why'd you do that for?!" Instead of answering his question, Leo, once again, slapped him in the head, again. "Leo, cut it out!" Raph yelled, his muscles tensing up as he awaited for the next blow to come... Only to fall on his shell when Leo sweep him off his feet with his own leg.

Before he could do or say anything... Raphael found himself pinned against the tatami mat by his brother... Who trapped his neck within his mouth, firmly squeezing his throat to make him start to panic.

"Leo! What the he-ah!" Raph choked out, fighting to free himself from the blue-masked turtle's hold and to his feet. However, because of his continuous beating on the dummy for a whole hour, made him over-used his energy and his tired body unable to kick or even force the older-twin off of his body. His anger screamed for him to keep fighting, to attack his brother and force his jaw to open, but the air being cut off was making him start to panic and his lungs demanded air.

Just as he started seeing spots popping before his eyes, Leonardo immediately let him go.

"You're dead," he flatly stated.

Rage spiked up within Raphael, giving him the energy to jump up and deliver a punch to Leo... Who, easily, dodged the attack and, with great speed got behind him and body slammed him on his plastron... Once again, biting into Raph's neck to choke him from oxygen for ten seconds before, again, releasing him from his grasp.

"You're dead," he repeated.

"Will you shut up about that?!" Raphael yelled, thrashing to get the older-twin off his shell. "And will you stop biting me in the neck?"

The only answer he got is another bite in the neck for ten seconds, with the same response after the attack.

"You're dead."

"Rrrraaahhh!"

The same procedure continued on for seventeen minutes: With Raphael continuously trying to grab, or attack his brother, as Leonardo continues to pin him down and bite him in the neck for ten seconds, repeating the same line after releasing the red-masked turtle from his grasp.

"You're dead."

For the sixty-second times, Leonardo said the two words that drove his younger-twin crazy. Though, now, after being spent from his attempts to get his brother and the multiple choking sessions, Raphael made no comment or movement whatsoever. Instead of snapping and springing up to keep fighting, he remained sprawled out on the ground, gasping for air. His rage still burns within him, but it felt more curbed for him to control.

_'Was this what he planned to happen?'_

Leonardo hovered over his brother, a calm expression on his face. Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes showing no fear to being close to his brother who could attack at any moment; he knew he won't attack, not when he's completely spent.

"I'll answer your first question, with a question of my own. And should the answer not satisfy you, I shall leave you alone and you can believe whatever the answer you come up with to be what you think is right.  _-He leaned in closer, so Emerald-green eyes don't turn away from what he needs to say to him.-_ Deal?"

Still out of breath, as well as being taken back to his proposal, Raphael nodded his head. Leo nodded back, pulling away to stand over his fallen brother.

"Answer me honestly, Raph: Why do you think Master Splinter gave us these ninja masks?"

Out of all the questions he expected to hear, that question wasn't what the red-masked turtle thought to hear.

"What kind of a question is that?" He replied, pushing himself to a sitting position. "Father gave us these masks, because he knew we're ready to become ninjas. How does that even answer my question?"

Leonardo shook his head, releasing a deep sigh.

"That's what I expected to hear from you, Raph."

Said turtle glared up at his brother, but refrained himself from attacking, having a nagging feeling in the back of its head that his brother would pin him down and bite him in the neck.

"Sensei didn't give us our masks, because he thinks we're ready to become ninjas... He gave us these masks, because he believed we are mature enough to understand what it means to wear the masks to become ninjas."

Raphael wanted a straight answer to that meaning, never being the turtle with that much patience to figure it out on his own.

"And what is there to understand, exactly?"

Unexpectedly, Leonardo undid the knot from the back of his head and pulled his mask off his face. Uncontrollably, his twin slightly flinched when he saw the crescent-moon scar over his right-eye. A year had past since the gator incident and Leo's wounds had healed up, but that scar will forever serve as a reminder to the hotheaded turtle what he almost caused to happen to his brother.

Not bothered by the discomfort of his brother staring at his scar, the older-twin answered the question.

"By wearing the mask, we showed to understand what being a ninja will demand us to do. As such, the consequences of being a ninja may also mean the danger we'll be putting ourselves in... Which can mean our deaths."

Raphael already knew the danger of being a ninja will cost them; having to be told of their father's past moments and the near-death experiences he went through back in Japan, along with their first battle with White Death, was more than enough to alert the red-masked turtle that he and his brothers can get killed in battle. He knew Leo, also, understood the danger just as much as he does, and Donatello has more than enough smarts to figure that out on his own. However, he isn't completely certain if Michelangelo knew that being a ninja isn't a game and has to take his training seri-

His Emerald-green eyes widened to what he just thought… And, immediately, he face-palmed himself in the face, a small-blush spread on his cheek. Above him, Leonardo gave him a smirk.

"You figured out the answer, didn't you?"

Raph groaned to his question, though no longer being angry at his brother for asking him such a question.

"You weren't showing off... You were taking your training seriously."

The maskless turtle smiled down at his brother's answer.

"Exactly.  _-He tied his mask back on to his face, relieving his brother from staring at the scar on his face.-_ If I decided to hold back, then I'm not really learning or taking Sensei's teaching as seriously as I should. By giving it my all, I show that I'm ready for the next level of our training and improve my skills, to better my chances against all foes we'll be encountering in the future."

He extended a hand out to Raph, who was never one to wanting help and act like a tough guy, but accepted his aid to get back on his feet.

"Glad to hear that," he commented. "But would you mind telling me  _-He rubbed his neck with a hand, feeling faint bumps to indicate where Leo's teeth had implanted themselves to, surprised that they didn't break the skin and isn't bleeding-_ why, the bloody hell, did you have to keep biting me in the neck and choking the life out of me?!"

Leonardo rolled his eyes to the question.

"Simple:…To help you stay calm and control your anger."

The answer didn't make any sense to the hotheaded turtle.

"How does almost choking me to death help me control my anger? And why do it again? The guys and I thought you finally outgrew the biting."

The blue-masked turtle shook his head.

"I never 'outgrew' the method, Raph. In case you've forgotten, I would only do that whenever you three would misbehave and that, alone, gets you guys to stop whatever you're doing. Besides, I haven't had a reason to pin you by your necks in a few months, which isn't enough time at all for anybody to outgrew something they've been doing for so long. As for how it helps, is quite simple: By continuously cutting off your air like that, I'm getting you to subconsciously take slower breathing and to not panic sooner than you would the first few times going through the procedure. Haven't you noticed a sudden change to your anger?"

Raphael thought long and hard and, almost a minute, realized that his anger, indeed, felt less constricting and burning than it had been from training. He actually thought that it was from burning more energy for an hour with the dummy that his anger started to die down, but found that not being the case.

"You were helping me gain control of my anger, by a method I would understand." At that discovery, he couldn't help laughing. "I can't believe I didn't realize it; not only were you taking your training seriously, but you also used a method that wasn't even Master Splinter's own teachings."

In a playful manner, Leonardo bumped his fist against his brother's head.

"Of course I would use a different method; the only way to get through to you, is by brute force. So, I decided to do a little rough housing with you and, just as I expected, it worked."

At that, Raphael let out a warning growl, alerting the blue-masked turtle on what's going to happen.

"You called that rough housing? I'll show you what rough housing really looks like!"

Immediately, the eldest turtle took off running, laughing as his brother pursues him in a chase that, while it may seem to be hothead attempting to attack his older-twin, is a special game that the two can relate being fun... While at the same time, training.  
 **End of Flashback...**

* * *

Raphael ran his finger gently through the material of his mask. His sobs completely spent and left feeling nothing but an empty feeling in his chest. His head still hurts from his self-inflicted injury he did to himself, but that failed in comparison from what his brother told him the true meaning of being a ninja meant.

_**"By wearing the mask, we showed to understand what being a ninja will demand us to do. As such, the consequences of being a ninja may also mean the danger we'll be putting ourselves in... Which can mean our deaths."** _

Somewhere along the way, the red-masked turtle either had forgotten the conversation or had gotten over confident that he didn't think anything bad would happen to him and his brothers... Until their battle with Kraang and saving the world from the invasion, made him realize that his brother's words had finally caught up to them.

and in the end, it was his only big brother that ended up paying the price, for following the ways of ninjutsu... Thus, wearing the mask that their father had given them all.

Raph let out a tiring sigh, staring down at his mask. A piece of himself that he felt had always been with him since his birth, his very existence.

"We could've saved you," he whispered. "We could've all gotten out of the Technodrome,  _together_. We would've handled that giant Kraang, if it did captured us from escaping.  _-He bowed his head, resting his bleeding head on his red ninja mask, imagining his own mask being the mask of his brother's.-_ Why did you have to go play the hero, and leave us like that?"

he didn't know how long he stayed in that same position, but the numbing in his legs told him it's been quite some time since he last moved. Tired and spent, he slowly got to his feet, putting his mask back on his face. He stared at the damaged pole and the splinters he left on the floor, reminding him on what took place before his sudden breakdown.

He went to retrieve a broom and dustpan from the kitchen, only for his head and hands to throb, reminding him of the injuries he allowed to inflict on himself... And from the feeling of the pain, a smirk appeared on his face.

_'Whenever we get hurt, even if it were a minor cut or bruise, Leo would make sure we get patched up before we did anything else.'_

If that were the case, he would come to believe that, even in death, his only big brother is still looking out for them… Yet, in his heart, he didn't believe that to being true… Because, in his heart, he held on to what Michelangelo and April had been trying to convince them that Leo is, in fact, still alive.

He was never one to believe that twins have telepathic abilities, or if they can sense each other's pain. Hell, even Donatello found some theory and/or evidence of said rumors to be highly impossible for anybody to possess, especially young children. Besides, if that were true, Leonardo would've asked Raph if he'd ever felt anything different, without warning or unexpectedly, while the blue-masked turtle was training, meditation or off scouring the sewers.

...Not only that, but if they'd really had that telepathic bond that human twins claim they share, then Raph would've used that to find Leo when he ran away at the age of ten*.

But, again, he doesn't believe that load of bull that humans are never completely certain to be true or a myth. Believing in something that he, himself, don't know actually exist or not, means he'd finally lost it and will keep lying to himself until somebody drops the bombshell and destroys whatever hope he has left that his brother is still alive. And the last thing he wants to do, is go crazy from a comforting lie.

_'…But Mikey and April both seemed very certain when they say Leo's still alive. How can they be certain if they don't know how or why, without knowing for sure if it's true?'_

Raph did not want to think that some person with mystical powers from the sky is the source to their success with Kraang and the Foot Clan, though he wasn't saying that there isn't a God looking down on them; Even when he was still Hamato Yoshi, Splinter always had a belief that God does exist and, like his father before him, shared the belief of his religion to his four sons. Don was the hardest to get through, while Raph isn't one to think somebody else is the reason they can do what they can when he and his brothers did all the hard work on their own. He knew, without a doubt, Mikey will believe anything their father tells them is real or not. As for Leo… Well, the red-masked turtle isn't certain on what his twin thought; he was never one to give out his own opinion to his brothers and father. When asked the question, April claims that she thinks there is somebody watching over us, even though she and her father sometimes go to church but only with some of Kirby's friends and when they have free time to go.

The red-masked turtle never really know what to believe in… But, if it's possible that this  _God_  Master Splinter believes to be real is, in fact, real… Then, what does he got to lose, if he doesn't try?

 _'This is going to be stupid.'_  He grumbled in his head, as he stared up at the ceiling.  _'I probably look like an idiot.'_ He pushed back the embarrassment he's feeling right now... And began talking. "Hey, God. You know who I am; I've been told you know everyone, from my father... This feels really dumb, like Mikey dumb... But, I don't really nowhere else to turn to... I just want a straight answer, which you already know what I'm going ask you to answer:... Is my brother, Leonardo, still alive?"

He's left with a silence response, just as he expected to gain. He let out a light snarky sound.

"Of course I'm not going to get a answer from you," he muttered. "Why did I think this was going to work? All because many people claim they've been saved or given a miracle by this  _God_  person they speak of, that I decided to see if it would work for us? I shouldn't have expected much! This just proves that they're fools to believe in some imaginary person that they don't know if he's real or not! If he was real, how come  _he_  didn't stop the invasion? How come _he_  didn't save all those people, when they were being a ducted by Kraang?!"

His eyes stung, alerting him of his tears being formed again, but is able to hold them back this time.

"Why didn't  _you_  save my brother, when he did all the work that  _you_  should have done to save everyone! He's the true hero that saved the Earth, not  **you**! And yet, those fools claim it was  _you_  who saved them!  _-He snarled at the ceiling above him, glaring at nobody but imagining a figure that people call 'God'-_ it's because of you, that my brother is gone! He gave himself up to save us all, and you can't even pull off a miracle for us and have him come back to us?! How could you do that to us?! To Leo?!"

Once again, throughout his whole conversation, he received no word, no answer from anyone. A great feeling of lost and despair grew inside of Raphael, that he fell to his knees.

"...Why did it have to be him...? Why did you have to take my brother away from us...? From  _me_?"

In the back of his mind, he is grateful that Donatello and Michelangelo had left to go see April and stay the night at her place. he didn't want to worry them any more than they already are, especially with their father being so distance from them since presenting Leo's ninja mask to him.

The pain in his chest grew, as he struggled to hold in his tears he didn't think he still had... Then, he felt a hand rest on his shoulder and when he looked up, was glassy-eyed when he saw his absent father, Hamato Yoshi, kneeling before him.

He didn't say anything, didn't utter a single word or sound. The two stare at each other for a moment, before Master Splinter pulled his second son to him, enveloping him into a hug. Ralph isn't usually the one who craves physical contact as Michelangelo does, but right now he didn't have the strength to even left his arms to either push Splinter away from him or to return the embrace. He feels numb.

Father and son leaned against one another, one trying to comfort the other, who doesn't know what to believe or what to do, besides going day by day with his life.

 _'...We just want him back,'_ he thought.  _'Please, bring him back.'_

* * *

 **August Third; Four Days Later…  
** "Ha!" April cried out, imagining to deflect a knife coming her way with her weapon of choice: The Tessen... A special weapon passed down amongst the Hamato Clan for over three hundred years.

Back when he was still Hamato Yoshi, Master Splinter had wanted to pass down his family Heirloom to his daughter, Miwa. However, believing her dead, he never thought to ever give another person this special fan-weapon. Even with his four sons, he wasn't certain any of them would want to have any ownership with the small-weapon... Despite having Leonardo mastering the War Fan, and proven to be a very well fighter with the fan.

April truly felt honored that her sensei, her second father-figure, would give her the Tessen as her chosen weapon. As such, she made sure to take very good care of the War Fan and practice very hard to wield it.

"Hyah!" She yelled, swiftly transferring her weapon to her other-hand and slicing the air in a diagonal position, creating a small gust of wind in the process. She made sure her feet are planted firmly on the ground, putting more pressure at the balls of her feet and toes to remain keeping her balance. In addition to stay firm and her back straight, she had her left-arm straight out behind her back, her hand held up as if expecting somebody to run into her from behind and slam into her open-palm.

She stood still for five seconds, before standing tall and straight.

"Haa…" She let out a deep sigh, wiping the sweat from her forehead from having to train with the Tessen for nearly an hour. Her muscles felt slightly sore, but nothing she couldn't handle. And her body is handling the training session, much better than it did when she first started her training. In fact, not only has she been improving her Kunoichi training, but has also started to put on some muscles she didn't noticed she had. Not too much to make her look buff, but enough to show how healthier she's been since being trained to become a Kunoichi.

At a time like this, she would want to show off her small-build to her human friends, maybe even convince her father to take up some defense classes to properly protect himself, should Kraang try to kidnap them, again… Sadly, she isn't in a joyful mood to do anything, other than keep up with her training and continue her life as a normal sixteen year-old girl.

Deciding to end her training for the day, April sat down on the tatami mat to rest. As she catches her breath, the light above him reached the Tessen and shined a bright light to her face. Her attention drawn, she stared down at the silver-fan. A sad-smile appeared on her face, as she now held the open fan in both hands and be mesmerized at the designs of cheery-blossoms and the Hamato Crest.

"I'm getting better at wielding you,  _ **Shirogane**_  (Platinum)." She said to her weapon, lightly running her thumb over the smooth material of the War Fan. "Hopefully, I'll be a master, worthy to be acknowledged as your owner… Somebody, Leo would be proud to know is taking care of a weapon that was supposed to be his sister's."

A tear surfaced, gliding down her cheek and almost dropping onto the Tessen, if she hadn't made a move to wipe the tear away.

After being told of Splinter's wife and daughter's passing, April had pondered what relationship she would form with the four turtles... Despite already knowing Donatello's crush for her, that she, sadly, doesn't share similar feelings with. At the end of the day, when accepting the Tessen as her own, found herself taking the role as being the turtles' sister they never gotten the chance to live with.

While she doesn't share any blood ties with the Hamato, she sees herself as part of the family. And, as such, loves each and every member of the Hamato Clan… So, on the day they escaped the Technodrome, without their leader in blue, April was very much heartbroken and in the early state of mourning. She knew what it was like to lose somebody you love; she lost her mother when she was six. She doesn't remember what happened or how she died, but it still hurts the sixteen year-old to this very day.

And now that she lost another person close to her, it became too much for her to bear… Yet, for some reason, his loss isn't as painful as her mother's. And that's because, while she and the others witnessed the Technodrome sinking to the bottom of the ocean and didn't see Leonardo escape the ship, her 'gift' that Master Splinter claims she obtained is telling her that he's still alive.

At first, she thought her mind was playing tricks with her, as if refusing to accept she lost a friend until somebody has to spell it out for her to accept the terrible truth that he truly is gone... But then, she started having strange dreams of being in a forest. She would find herself in a den-like cave, only to follow a single trail leading her to a hill, where she saw a shady-figure standing on the top. The figure on top would turn, as if to face her, and held out a hand to her.

…Hands, that had  _three_ fingers. Instantly, April believed that the figure is Leonardo and would make an attempt to run up the hill. However, each and every time she would run up the hill and make it to the top, the figure would vanish. In the figure's place, two Ninjatō/Katana swords resting on the grass. April would then reach out to touch them, which would then engulf her in the moon's light, waking her up in the process.

She doesn't understand what her dream was telling her, but in her heart, she felt it's a sign that proves Leo is alive and well.

April wanted to tell Splinter of her dreams, but debated against that idea; he's a grieving father at the moment, even if her own father would come by and interact with the Hamato Family, and if she told him something about the son he believes to have lost, she fears he won't be reacting very well and would tell her that she was merely dreaming something she hoped to be real. She did, however, told Michelangelo about her dream, which, while uncertain to believe in a dream that came to his human-friend and not he and his family, felt some form of comfort and hope to grab hold that his big-brother is alive.

That was a week after the guys saved the world and since then, she used her dream to keep pushing forward on her training and to help the guys with their stages of grief.

She pushed herself to get back to her feet and resume training, but her muscles tensed and made her remain on the ground… At a time like this, she imagined Leonardo intervening and convincing her to allow her body to rest.

A happier smile spread on her face.

 _'Good old Leo,'_  she thought.  _'Once you get to know him, he'll do whatever it takes to help others out. Even finding ways to make them happy.'_

* * *

 **Flashback: June Seventh; Eight Weeks, One Day Ago** **…**  
"Hah!" She called out, swiping her weapon in the middle of the air... Only to lose part of her footing and fall to her knees. "Haugh!" She groaned, glaring down the weapon sprawled underneath her right-hand. "Damn it! I thought I had it!"

A chuckling sound made her jump, blushing that she didn't sense somebody enter the room and was being watched. Turning her head, she saw the intruder being her favorite blue-masked turtle: Leonardo. He was leaning next to the Shoji door, arms folded over his chest, with a snicker on his face.

"I never thought I'd ever hear you curse, until now." He stated, making his way over and offering her a hand to get back up to her feet. She took his help and now stood before him, glaring at the ground with embarrassment to be caught messing up with her training with the Tessen and for the comment she gained from Leo.

"I don't usually have a reason to swear, unless it's involved with something that pisses me off." She replied, clenching her hand around the closed fan. "I've been practicing for a whole week now, and I still can't get it to work!"

As if to prove it to the turtle, she turned to face the other end of the dojo and swung the Tessen into another diagonal line, which resulted her to stumble and almost fall on her side, if Leo didn't catch her.

"I figured that was the case," he chuckled. She pouted to his response, but didn't say anything as he helped her to her feet once again. "Raph and Mikey thought the same thing, too, when we started training with our weapons at the age of ten*. Sensei had to remind them sixth times that they don't automatically become masters of their weapons in mere days, until it finally got through to their thick skulls."

April couldn't help but giggled at the information, no longer feeling embarrassed and glad she's not the first to have trouble wield the War Fan. Still, hearing that the turtles didn't so easily mastered their weapons, didn't really help the redhead to figure out how to wield her own weapon.

"How long did it take you to control your swords? Did you find a quicker way to master your weapon?" She couldn't help but asked, eagerly awaiting to hear what other teaching methods the blue-masked turtle used to help speed up his training and hoping he'll let her use the same method to increase her training.

What she wasn't expecting from Leonardo, was an angry glare and such disappointment staring straight into her soul.

"I just told you that nobody can master their weapons in such short time, and yet you still ask for a shortcut to force  _ **Shirogane**_ to obey your every command?" His reply to her request caught her off guard, especially that name he just said.

"' _ **Shirogane**_ '? Who's that?"

Leo lifted her right-hand, forcing her to open the Tessen.

"The name of the weapon you hold in your very hand," he replied. "I'm still shocked that, to this very day and possibly many more to come, that Master Splinter actually gave you his family heirloom weapon. A weapon that was meant to be given to our late sister, Miwa."

A flash of sadness can be seen in his Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes, as he stared at the silver War Fan reflecting his face back at him.

The sixteen year-old redhead immediately felt guilty of her words, feeling she forced him to recall a lost family member he never gotten the chance to meet or bond with.

"I'm sorry, Leo. I didn't mean for you to bring up…  _Your_  sister."

She couldn't help but feel jealous over Splinter's daughter; she may had been a baby when she was, sadly, presumed dead, but April at times felt like being reminded that she isn't their blood-sister. Mostly by the humanoid-rat, himself, as if afraid to be replacing his own child with another's that he bonded with as if she really was Miwa.

A hand rested on her left-shoulder, drawing the teenager out from her thoughts and looking into the kind face of Leonardo.

"I know you didn't," he reassured. "I'm still saddened that she isn't with us, but I'm glad that  _ **Shirogane**_ is at least given to my  _other_  sister and no longer collecting dust like she had been for the last fifteen years."

April felt happy to be included into the family by him; the only other person to openly refer to her as family is Mikey, while Raphael isn't one for word and Donatello… Again, his crush on her makes her feel awkward. Being reminded of her weapon's name, she couldn't help but laugh.

"Where did the name came from? Did Sensei named  _her_?" She asked, finding the name being very fitting for a weapon that's stronger than steel.

"No. Actually,  _I_  named her  _ **Shirogane**_." His answer was a bit of a surprise to the older-teen. "You may be her new owner, April, but remember: I started training with her, long before you decided to have her as yours. And, as such, every weapon I trained with, I solidify my bond with them by giving them names."

"Do you also decide what gender they are?" She asked, chuckling a bit at the slight blush on his face.

"Not really. Whenever I bond with a weapon, I would feel like I can see what they would appear to be if they were humans. Some warriors believe to have the ability to see a weapon's soul and appearance, which allows them to view the current condition they're in by their masters*."

"…Whoa... You make it sound like they're alive."

"That's because, in some theory, they are.  _-April gave him a confused look, which he expected from the girl.-_ Back in the Feudal Era, many warriors, who bonded with their weapons, come to terms that their weapons are alive. Basically, by properly taking care of your weapons: Sharpening them, cleaning them from blood or grime, even training with them. In exchange, they shall take care of you: Reflecting light or other's reflection, hunting down prey and even being your first act of defense close by. And some say, if you're truly in tune with your weapon, there is nothing that'll stand in your way. Even the mightiest and largest weapon of all of Japan, will fall by the true strength between warrior and weapon."

April was in awe by his words. Her heart beat with such force, that her hands trembled with anticipation.

"Will I be able to be in tune with my we-…  _ **Shirogane**_?" She asked, ready to get back to training and feel that bond that warriors forged with their own weapons.

"Perhaps," the turtle answered. "So long as you keep up with your training, realize your flaws when caring for both yourself and  _ **Shirogane**_... But most of all, know that none can truly control the full might of the weapon. You must prove yourself worthy to your weapon, so that she will see you as an equal to fight alongside in battle and share her strength with your own… Maybe, as a sibling, even."

He then pulled out his two swords from their sheaths, catching her a bit off guard and thinking of the possibility of having a sparring match with the most experienced turtle. Reading her eyes staring at his weapon, Leonardo figured what she was thinking.

"We'll probably spar, one day, when you are fully in tune with your weapon. Right now, I want you to pay attention to my movement and see how I fight with my weapons."  
 **End of Flashback...**

* * *

Their private lessons with each other was truly something April O'Neil enjoyed. Not only had he shown her how to properly perfect her katas, but he had surprisingly shown and given her some interesting advice on how to fight and move with her weapon.

_'Who would've thought that ballet would, also, be useful in katas and perfecting to dodge attacks... I never would've taken Leo to take up doing any form of dancing, let alone using ballet to improve his movement.'_

When given the suggestion to study the ways of ballet, April decided to do some lessons of her own from a friend of hers from school. And a good choice she made on her part; she never realized how flexible she could get after an entire month of private lessons, along with incorporation ballet into her Kunoichi training.

_'Seriously, athletes should consider taking lessons for themselves, to perfect their footwork, balance, posture and reflexes.'_

She made another attempt to get to her feet, and this time, she succeeded on getting to her feet. She made her way to the Shoji door, before she stopped in her steps when her I caught something.

On the tree, is a barely visible mark of a cut on the bark... A mark she had made, with her own  _ **Shirogane**_.

It was few days before the Fourth of July, and she wanted to show Leonardo that she can toss her weapon and catch it like a boomerang. She succeeded on tossing a perfect throw... What she didn't get right was catching it, which resulted the Tessen to hit its mark at the tree. they were lucky that it landed on the ground and didn't cut into the tree, or Splinter would've been greeted by a sight of his beloved tree being impaled by one of his own weapons he passed down to one of his pupils.

She wasn't the first to make their mark on the tree, later finding out that the turtles, also, pulled the same stunt she did when they were younger, and she will surely not be the last to implant a mark on the tree. Luckily, she decided to be wise and not pull another stunt like that again, until she is completely positive that she can complete a task in her ability of wielding  _ **Shirogane**_.

The faint mark on the tree served as another reminder she and Leonardo shared a sweet moment with each other... Which also fueled her hope that her turtle brother is still alive.

_'I know you're still alive, Leo. No matter what, we will find you. And we will bring you home.'_

* * *

**August Seventh; Five Days Later…  
** _'Inhale... Exhale... Let your mind wonder. Do not allow thought to distract you of your task...'_

In the darkness of his room, Master Splinter sat in the middle of the floor, in a lotus position... In his clenched hands, resting in the center of his lap, he held the mask he gave his eldest-son when they were three, all those years ago. The only piece that remains of the eldest-turtle his remaining sons were able to find of him.

He didn't wanted to believe what he's been told; his eldest-son, his second  _baby_ , had sacrificed himself to save his brothers and April, and went down with the Technodrome. Even as they gave him Leo's mask, he still try to fight off the feeling that he dreaded to feel after fifteen years by meditating.

Even without a body to prove if he still lived or not, by entering the Astral Plane, Splinter will be able to search his son's own life force or spirit. And if he is still alive, he'll be able to use his own son's spirit to try and locate his current position. If he didn't make it... Then, he'll know for certain that his done died, as a true warrior.

For weeks, he searched for his son's spirit... But, for some reason, he couldn't find Leonardo anywhere. He never dealt with the situation before, even when he couldn't find his own wife's spirit. At least with her, he can still sense her somewhere within the Astral plane that tells him she's still around, even in death.

However, with Leo's condition, it was like he completely vanished from the living and the Afterlife. Like he never existed to begin with. The only time something like that were to happen, is if that person has successfully concealed their entire being from ever being detected. His own father, Hamato Yūta, is one of those very few who has succeeded such a task that many Masters before him never were able to reach.

There was no way that Leonardo, despite being the strongest amongst his sons to possessed great spiritual potential, would be able to master such a task that took many years for true Masters to perform. While Splinter hoped that it was just another Ninja Master who is concealing his son's location, he mostly hoped that his son hadn't been found or, his greatest fear, being held captive by their archenemies.

He couldn't bear the thought of his son, in the hands of Kraang... Terrifying of all, Oroku Saki. Being tortured, beaten and imprisoned to the point of dea-

Immediately, Splinter was pulled back into his body, snapping his eyes wide open and, once again, back in his room. Small trail of sweat glided off his fur, as he lightly gasped for air. His shock immediately switched to anger, mostly towards himself, and then slammed his fist against the tatami mat beneath him.

 _ **"Kuso!"**_ He yelled. "Why do I keep allowing myself to get distracted?!" His tail thumped against the floor, nearing knocking his nightstand onto the floor. "I almost felt him. I was certain I could finally reach him!"

That was a lie; it's the same thought he kept telling himself, as a form of drive to keep pushing himself to continue his search for his missing son... Even when they all end up with the same results: His mind slipping it's focus from his thoughts for Leonardo, be pulled back to his body and wallow in self-pity of his failure as, not only as a teacher, but also a father in general.

After his encounter with Oroku Saki, in his attempt to rescue April, he discovered a terrifying truth that'll haunt him for months to come: Karai, the Kunoichi that he told his sons to never trust, is really his presumed deceased daughter, Miwa… And, believing the lies his enemy has told her, has sworn vengeance for her mother and every intent to kill him. If that wasn't bad enough, when three of his sons and April returned from taking down the Technodrome, they had to inform the stricken father that his fourth son didn't make it out and had sacrificed himself to allow them to escape.

Splinter didn't want to believe he lost another child... That  _he_  was the cause for Leonardo's death, when he told him he would have to make sacrifices to succeed on saving the world. He never meant to put his son in a situation that he feels like he has to become that sacrifice, because he had hoped the eldest-turtle would be able to make the impossible, possible, without any casualties to befallen amongst the team.

…He was wrong.  _Dead_  wrong... His sons and April searched for their missing teammate for long hours of each day, while the fifty year-old would make his own search through the Astral Plane and after thirteen days since the invasion, the only thing they found was Leo's ninja-mask.

Splinter knew that they can't keep searching for Leonardo every night, not when Kraang is still walking amongst the Citizens of New York and Oroku Saki sending Foot Ninjas to find their Lair and dispose of them. Even as April and Kirby O'Neil would keep searching in the middle of the day for Leo, it would prove to be futile to not take care of themselves first. When stating that they'll only look for Leonardo once every few days for a couple of hours, he and Raphael got into a heated argument until the red-masked turtle was forced to back down and accept what their father told them to do.

The fifty year-old father hated himself for making such an order, as if he'd already given up on Leo and is abandoning him for death, but he has to make sure the wellbeing of his three…  _Remaining_  sons won't be put in jeopardy. He knew his sons and the O'Neil Family won't give up on their search, not until they find out for themselves if he truly had perished in the Technodrome.

He wasn't going to give up on his search for his eldest-son, as well. But, with each failed attempts to locate Leonardo's Spirit in the Astral Plane, made his efforts feel more in vain and a complete failure as a father.

Splinter's Ruby/Amber-eyes, clouded by anguish tears, stared down at the mask he held against his chest, clenched tightly in his left-hand. His breathing quivered, shoulders trembling, as a sob wracked his body. With his head bowed and eyes closed tight, he brought the mask to rest against his forehead.

"Leonardo... _ **Watashi no musuko, anata wa doko ni imasu ka?**_ (My son, where are you?)" He didn't get an answer, just as he got none when in the Astral Plane. His fangs clenched against each other, struggling and failing to stifle his crying.

As Head of the Hamato Clan, he has to be the strong. He has to be the example, for his sons to look up to and go to when they need him. He isn't allow to show his own distress, no matter how difficult or painful the situation puts him in… However, behind closed doors, where his sons can't see or hear him, does he allow the tears to come out. To lower his stoic demeanor, and reveal himself a parent who struggles to do what's best for the family.

Splinter never felt so alone than he ever did, even when being the sole survivor to live after the Shredder's attack among the Clan, than right now. Kirby tried his best to be there for the grieving father and help him go through the pain of loss, but the humanoid-rat didn't want to burden his new friend any more than the human has to deal with being on high alert for Kraang coming for him and April.

And yes, he still has his three sons, but it's dreadful of the thought of having three sons remain in his life and a daughter trying to kill him and her half-brothers… Who, none of them understood the burden their father has to carry on his shoulders… None, except for  _Leonardo_. The son  _he_  gave the responsibility of Leader to... The son  ** _he_**  most likely got killed, because he pressured him to only focus on completing their mission and ignore everything else.

…The son  ** _he_**  pushed to become like him, and stripped him from his chance on having a childhood that his brothers were allowed to have.

God, he felt like a monster… No... As Leonardo once said to him... Like the  _ **Shredder**_ , himself.

 _'Is this my punishment?'_  He asked in his thoughts.  _'Am I being punished, once again, for a committed sin I've caused? By having my son... My **Akachan**_ (baby)  _taken away from me,_ _permanently?'_

His heart felt like it was struggling to keep up with the fast paste it was going, as it felt like stone weight pulling it down to the pit of his stomach and his mind racing and pulsing an unbearable headache. The fifty year-old father doesn't want to think that. Not when he promised his sons he'll protect them.

* * *

 **Flashback: February Twentieth, 1997…  
** The Winter has been unforgiving to the thirty-five year-old father. and still, even after learning that Spring has come early this year, the cold was still overbearing for Hamato Yoshi and his four turtle sons.

Down in the sewers, in a makeshift shelter that's been abandoned and long forgotten, the humanoid-rat could only watch as the four turtles slept in their sleep spot, covered in the warmest blanket he owned. Because he didn't have any source of heat to keep the turtles warm and are stuck living in a cold sewer, the new father had no idea how to continue caring for them.

He just finished attempting to feed them and, sadly, none of them responded to the baby food and/or milk he presented to them. They remained motionless and very still, as they sleep through the Winter. Hibernating through the Winter that Yoshi was unfamiliar with. While he does have some knowledge about turtles, thanks to his late wife, he didn't know what to do and what not to do while turtles hibernate through the Winter. That includes, knowing when they'll wake up.

Yoshi just assumed, because of their human-heritage, they would be able to avoid the call to sleep through the cold season and, actually, celebrate their first Thanksgiving and Christmas together. There was so much he wanted to do, especially now that his son, Leonardo, suddenly awaken and can finally interact with the rest of the family… Sadly, the next day after he woke up, the eight month-old turtle immediately went back to sleep. This time, his brothers followed suit with him and all four remained asleep since that day.

That was over three months ago and still, the humanoid-rat kept a close eye on his four sons and monitored their conditions, hoping they will wake up.

In just a week or two, the day they became what they are right now is coming up. He couldn't call it their birthday, since his true birth was in October and the turtles most likely hatched in the second week of February. Since it clearly was some form of scientific conspiracy that, in form, transformed them into anthro-animal human-hybrids, he thinks the correct term of their day of transformation should be called 'Mutation Day'.

He really hopes that they'll all wake up before that day arrives; the Lair has gotten much too quiet for any one to feel any sense of peace, even for him.

_'And to think I told them to be silent like ninja, back when we were escaping from those strange beings. Now, I would give anything to even hear them screaming and yelling.'_

"Mmmm…"

A soft moan, coming from the little ones, brought the thirty-five year-old from his thoughts and immediately kneeled before the four sleeping turtles. They all looked calm and peaceful… Then, he saw Michelangelo kicking his little legs, both colliding with Raphael's shell... Who responded by emitting a low growl.

Yoshi was ecstatic.

"They moved!" He cheered, pride swelling in his chest as he saw more movement coming from his two sons… Which, to more of his delight, seemed to start rousing Donatello from his sleep when the third turtle made a whining sound and turned himself on his shell. His arm accidentally slammed against Raphael's head, letting out another growl before digging his face into the blanket.

…Then, when he turned his head, his eyes were wide-eyed opened.

The humanoid-rat couldn't help but gasp in surprise, mesmerized by Raphael's Emerald-green eyes, blinking up at him... Completely awake. With such relief, Yoshi scooped his fierce son into his arms, cuddling him close to his chest and nuzzling his face against the baby's head.

"My wild fire, Raphael." He whispered, landing a light kiss on top of the turtle's forehead. That earned him a giggle from the turtle, who lightly pounded his little fist against the arm closest to his plastron, as his feet kicked against the father's chest.

Yoshi chuckled, setting the turtle down in his lap and keeping him in place with his left-arm.

"Ba, ba ba ba!" A second voice blurted out, belonging to Michelangelo, who shrieked at seeing his father and brother, forcing himself to crawl from the blanket and make an immediate beeline for the humanoid-rat. Ignoring Raphael's warning growl, Mikey climbed into Yoshi's lap and raised his arms up, demanding to be held.

Keeping his right-arm on Raphael, Yoshi lifted the freckle-faced turtle with his free arm, giving him the same treatment that he gave to his brother. Mikey's response to the treatment, was to grab for his father's whiskers and started pulling on them.

Yoshi immediately pulled away, resulting the tugging to worsen when the turtle kept firm of his grip. Hearing the distress sound his father made, Michelangelo continued on laughing with joy, promoting him to tug harder on his father's whiskers.

It took the thirty-five year-old three minutes to get the toddler to completely let go, after the toddler kept making grab for his whiskers and tugging them for his amusement. Raphael, very much annoyed of his brother forcing out pain sounds from their father, lunged up to land a blow to Mikey's legs.

Michelangelo let out a big wail.

"Raphael!" Yoshi scolded, lifting the freckled-faced turtle to his right-shoulder to cry on and grabbing for the angry toddler with his left-hand. "You do not hit your brother!" All Raph did was pout, glaring back at his father, showing no signs of fear of getting in trouble or showing any signs to obey what his father told him. In fact, when he leaned in to tell him not to hit Mikey, Raph pulled one of his fists out and delivered another punch to the other turtle's leg.

Once again, Mikey wailed.

"Raphael!" Again, Yoshi yelled, pulling back to gently soothe the toddler in his arm.

Throughout the entire time this was going on, Donatello was roused up by Michelangelo's screams. After turning to his plastron, he sat straight up, letting out a loud yawn before sticking a thumb into his mouth and sucking on the digit. He watches as Yoshi tries to comfort Mikey to stop crying, while pulling Raph away from beating the freckled-face turtle and disciplining him to stop. The sight before the little genius was very intriguing, but also dangerous that he knew to stay away.

He then looked over to his left and saw his third brother remained asleep, quiet and still. Don knew that he should be awake right now and, like any infant would do, after crawling over to be beside him, started patting his hand against Leonardo's head.

"Gu, ah." He babbled, sloppily aiming his slaps from his brother's head to his shell. When that didn't work, he then tried to make his brother move by pushing him to his shell and slapping on his plastron. That method didn't work either. Don then decided to pick up his brother's right-hand... And lightly nibble on his fingers. It always bothered Raph when he or Mikey used his fingers as teething toys, so why not try it on Leo?

Surprisingly, even that didn't rouse the sleeping turtle... But he did, eventually, gained their father's attention.

"Donatello!" Yoshi exclaimed, using his tail to curl itself around the turtle's shell and pull him into his lap with his two brothers. "You mustn't disturb your brother when he is sleeping."

Taken away by his brother, Donatello's curious mind turned to the pink-tail that wrapped itself around his small-body... He decided to see if it was food, by biting down on it. Luckily for Yoshi, their baby teeth were too dull to cause any serious pain to his tail. Though, he knew that he has to feed them before they start biting each other. Or worse, himself.

After setting down three of his four sons and before getting up to grab the baby food, Yoshi took the moment to stare at his sleeping son. His ears dropped when seeing no response coming from the sleeping turtle, even when lying on his shell.

Gently, he turned his son back onto his plastron and laid a light kiss on his forehead, nuzzling his nose against his head.

 _ **"**_ ** _Watashi no musuko, mōsugu okimasu_** (Wake up soon, my son)." He whispered into Leo's ear, then got to his feet and made an immediate path for the kitchen to grab the baby food. When he got back, Donatello was trying to pull Raphael away from Michelangelo, beating him upside of his head.

It took Yoshi twenty-seven seconds to break up the fight and four minutes to finish feeding his three sons, which was a difficult task when three turtle toddlers kept getting in each other's way to eat their portion from the spoon and starting a fight to continue where that left off. To top it all off, the three ended up getting food on themselves than getting it into their mouths.

The thirty-five year-old ended up gathering three, messy babies into his arms and taking them to the bathroom for a bath... Which left Yoshi wondering: which is worse to deal with, his sons fighting over food and getting themselves dirty or having to be victimized in their little game of water fight. The one to start the water fight, surprisingly, is Raphael.

He hates getting baths and will do whatever it takes to get out of the tub, even if it means he would get in trouble and would find a way to getting payback if he does't succeed at escaping, by splashing their father with water. Michelangelo, thinking that his brother started a game, join in at splashing both his father and his brothers with water. Poor Donatello try to seek shelter from the splashes and is unable to escape getting caught in the middle of this horrible game.

Nevertheless, the humanoid-rat got them all cleaned and what's more successful at drying them up, before scoping them back into his arms and heading back for the living room.

Yoshi let out a tiring sigh, feeling a bit cold from the water soaking through his kimono and onto his fur.

_'Perhaps, next time they hibernate, I should remind myself to never ask for them to scream and yell, again.'_

"Do da da, ya ya ba ya de." Michelangelo babbled, reaching for their fathers thin beard, giving the humanoid-rat barely enough time to pull away from Mikey's death grip hands.

Rather than get annoyed, Yoshi couldn't help but chuckle that the turtles persistence.

_'Or, it's something that I should get used to dealing with.'_

So focused on the three eight month-old babies in his arms, Yoshi almost didn't notice a certain surprise waiting for him if he didn't hear a sudden sound that didn't came from either of his three sons he held. When he lifted his gaze... his breath was taken away from him, as he froze in his steps.

There, still in the blanket of the sleep pile, slowly sitting up and stretching his arms and legs, is the fourth turtle: Leonardo.

"Uuahh..." The boy let out a big yawn, similar to how cats and canines yawn, before slowly getting to his hands and feet. His limbs wobbled a bit, but gradually stayed firm underneath the turtle's body.

After shaking his body a bit and lifting his head, did Leonardo realized that he had a small group staring at him. His Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes flashed at the humanoid-rat with uncertainty when seeing his brothers being held like human hatchlings... Until his mind reminded him that they're no longer normal turtles and are now humanoid-turtles.

Yoshi, stunned by what he's seeing is too good to be real, slowly got down to his knees and set his three sons on the ground, all of which made an immediate dash for their brother and enveloped him in a big group hug.

Leo, by surprise, let out a small yip. All three brothers let out laughter and proceeded to play with him by attempting to dogpile him.

As his son's play with one another, Yoshi watches over them from afar. his heart felt like it was going to jump out of his chest at any moment, as his Ruby/Amber-eyes kept observing his fourth son successfully escaping his brothers' game and staying at a safe distance while on all-fours. Letting out yipping sounds, that the others found very funny and continuously coming for the Cerulean/sapphire-eyed toddler.

As much as he wanted to scoop him into his arms and keep him in his embrace, the thirty-five year-old father allowed his boys to play with each other to catch up after hibernating for so long.

He stared up at the ceiling, feeling truly blessed by God, himself, to have four sons to love and raise.

 _'I make this solemn oath,'_ he thought.  _'I shall love and treasure my sons, over all else. I shall let them live happy and loved, just as I was by my own family. Like I was raised to be, I shall train my sons to follow the family tradition, on the path of ninjutsu, when they become of age... But most of all, no matter what, I shall protect them from all who would dare to harm them... Even, at the cost of my life.'  
_ **End of Flashback...**

* * *

Tears stained the blue-mask. Leaving deep water-markings into the material that'll eventually fade away. If only the same could be said about the cold-hand squeezing his heart.

His claws dug through his thick fur, slightly digging into his skin and leaving a small-trail of blood to merge with brown-fur and Kimono. He didn't care that he self-harmed himself; he couldn't feel any pain that he will surely feel later on when his mind will come to it's senses.

He now held his son's mask in both hands, burying his face into the soft material, as he sobbed his heart out.

"Forgive me, Leonardo. Forgive me, for breaking my promise. For making you feel like you must become a sacrifice, to spare your brothers and April from Kraang... For being a terrible father...!" He rocked himself in his spot, unable to find any comfort from the pain. "I failed Miwa when she was a baby, and should had searched for her. I failed Shen, when I should had done more to save her from Saki's attack. I failed your brothers, when I should had better prepared yourselves with your fight against the Foot Clan and the Kraang... Worst of all, I failed you, by not being the father you needed me to be."

His sadness is like a dark storm, striking his mind with the terrible reminder of his failures... While in his stomach, a great quake of anger roared towards his hatred for the aliens that mutated them all those years ago... And the Shredder, for betraying him when they were brothers, killing his wife and kidnapping his daughter and turning her into a killer he molded her to become.

Losing the person you love is devastated, especially when losing one you would call your soulmate. But to lose a child... It's something that haunts you for the rest of your day; Yoshi should know, when he thought his daughter was dead. But this helpless feeling of failing to find his son and to think he has perished... It's ten times worse for the grieving father.

His tears continued to be shed for the eldest-turtle, as a single message ran through his thoughts.

 _'Please be alive, my son. Please..._ **Watashitachi ni modoru** (Return to us).'

* * *

Everyone deals with grief in their own ways, expectedly or unexpectedly: Some deal with it, by attempting to go on their usual routine. Others, purposely or not, lock themselves away or keep themselves occupy to push themselves from confronting their problems. Many tend to lash out in anger, because how much pain they keep holding inside of them and don't want to admit how truly hurting they are in their grieving state. A few tried to remember the good times they had with the person they lost, hoping to overpower the sadness of never creating more memories with their missing loved ones. For some, it works to push on... For others, it makes the pain much more real and unbearable to find away around it.

For the ways of the humans, their emotions make them behave very irrational and, at times, unpredictable... For the ways of the animals, it's another story.

They grab hold to the understanding of Life and Death, much more than humans believe they can. When an animal loses a companion close to them, they do have a feeling of great pain and sorrow… But, unlike humans, they don't grieve for very long. Because emotions,  _feelings_  are, by nature, irrational. Distractions that they can't afford to get in the way, for those who are still living. Even love they have for their mates, younglings, companions and members of their group are all but a hindrance when struggling to survive a single day more. They can't allow feelings to blind them when hunting for food, fighting to protect and defend intruders, or even when on the brink of death.

But, just because animals don't allow themselves to express how they feel in the way humans tend to do, doesn't make them heartless. They know there's a time when it's okay to express one's behavior, when they know it's appropriate to let out those feelings. So long that it doesn't counter with a situation when they need to be collective, that could very well mean Life and Death for their very survival of all.

Losing a loved one is truly a great loss that none can ever recover from, no matter how much time would past or when they, eventually, find the path to keep living. Many would pray, sending their loves to the ones they lost, or hope to find some sign as proof their loved one is still around.

…Only very few, who hope for some miracle to be given to them, will gain such an honorable gift on having their prayers be answered.

* * *

 **August Eighth; the Next Day, at Night** **…**  
"Oh, come on! That movie was funny!" April argued with the red-masked turtle, who he and his brothers are dressed in hoodies and baggy clothes to disguise themselves from the humans, as they left the theatre after watching "Ice Age: Continental Drift".

"No offense, April, but that movie sucked." Raphael replied, glaring at Michelangelo, who kept humming the 'We Are Family' song. "Their adventure was way too short, and their fight scene was plain out childish! I was actually hoping Manny would get his eye cut out and get a cool, battle scar!"

"I thought it was quite intriguing." Donatello commented, clearly lying through his lips and trying to share April's interest in a movie he didn't find very amusing. "I mean, it seemed very unlikely for a Gigantopithecus to push solid ice to match the exact weight and mass as his previous ice-ship, despite their sheer strength."

"I liked how Sid was able to communicate with those little hamsters, and the squirrel still ends up losing his nut in the end." Michelangelo added in, finally giving the song a rest for a moment to make a point of his own. "And it's like I've been trying to tell you, guys: Squirrels did create the world as it is, today."

Raph and Don both face-palmed themselves to their baby brother's claim.

"We went over this, Mikey. It was  _just_  a movie! The continents were still a single, lard island, millions of years ago, until it eventually broke into two continents. The seven continents didn't become what they are right now, until many,  _many_  years later. Squirrels had absolutely  _ **nothing**_  to do with the changes of the Earth, at all!"

Mikey gave him a suspicious look.

"Of course, you would say that, Dee... If you were really a squirrel, in disguise!" He pointed a finger at his older-brother, who gave him a blank look on his face... Until let out a yell and started chasing the orange-masked turtle.

"For the last time, I'm  **not**  a squirrel!"

"The gap in between your front teeth saids otherwise, Bro!"

As the two brothers continued their little game of cat and mouse, April and Raph watch in amusement.

"You can't actually think it's  _all_  terrible?" She asked, raising an eyebrow to give the hotheaded turtle a look that wanted him to be honest with her. He slightly blushed to her question… Then, seeing his brothers occupied with each other, decided to answer her.

"…I liked Shira," he answered. "…And Sid's Grandma was pretty awesome, with her whale... But I still think the whole plot was a load of bull, and should've stopped at 'Dawn of the Dinosaur'."

She patted him on the shoulder.

"Maker's do whatever it takes to make money," she informed him. "But you got to admit, that a How to Train Your Dragon 2 would be awesome."

That, Raphael could agree to.

"If they don't make it, I don't see how else they'll be able to make money by not making a sequel to an already awesome movie."

"I know. The movie is really good, and it wasn't too dark or feel rushed at all. I hope they do make a sequel and continue the story, without killing a beloved character or putting Hiccup and Toothless in a difficult situation that'll put a strain on their friendship*."

"Ahhh!" Michelangelo cried out, being pinned down by his plastron and his left-arm held in Donatello's grasp. "April, Raph, help! Have mercy, Donie!"

"Not until you take back of me being a squirrel, Mikey!" The purple-masked turtle ordered, slightly tightening his grip on his brother's arm, making him beg for more mercy. Both of the older teens chuckled at the scene before them, before they came up and saved the youngest-turtle from the wrath of the genius turtle.

After the movies, they went to see Murakami-san to enjoy some Pizza Gyoza, which Mikey insisted that they go to. It was nice to see the blind-man; they've been so caught up with patrol and dealing with Kraang and Foot Ninjas, they hadn't been coming to their favorite Noodle Restaurant as often as they planned to. Apparently, business has been going well for Murakami-san, especially since his Pizza Gyoza has been a classic favorite for many of his regulars.

In fact, business has been so well, that he was able purchase better stools for his customers to sit in, which the guys had eventually taken noticed. He also bought better kitchen utensils to help him with his cooking, increasing his production nearly a third his speed. But the most wonderful news he wanted to share with them: With the money he's making, he'll be able to hire a few workers to run the shop, mostly for the day-shift. That way, not only will he be able to take some time off for himself, but will also be running the night-shift much more often than he normally does.

The turtles and April were very happy to hear such good fortune for their blind friend… Then, without realizing it, Murakami-san destroyed the joy when he asked where Leonardo was. They didn't have the hearts to tell him that they lost him since the invasion. So, they decided to tell him that he isn't with them right now, telling him a half-lie to buy them some time to eventually tell him the truth. Murakami knew they were lying, but said nothing and chose to wait until they come back another time to ask them for the truth.

After dinner, while bringing some leftovers to take home for Splinter, the five teens decided it was getting late and is time to get back to the Lair. They decided to not do patrol for tonight, on account that it was slow night with very little activities from the Foot Clan and the Kraang.

As they made their way for the nearest manhole-cover, April felt an odd presence nearby. She didn't know what it was, but it felt somewhat familiar to her. Her heart banged against her chest when she felt the presence within her mind, telling her to look for whatever it was she was sensing.

The guys noticed her hesitation and when asked what was wrong, all she said was "I feel something… Familiar.". Not wanting to make her turtle-brothers worried, she pushed aside her instinct to go look for what she didn't know what it was and bring up the rear on entering the sewers.

She hoped that the feeling would go away, but as they slowly continued on towards the Lair, the pulsing in her mind grew with each steps she took. Her heart hammered a bit quicker, making her adrenaline kick in from anxiety and anticipation.

_'Why am I so pumped? And why do I have this urge to run?'_

before she realized it, without any kind of warning, April immediately took off ahead of the group. She ran like she never ran before, ignoring the cries of her concern friends. She knew that she had to find the source to what she was feeling in her mind. that whatever it was that she sensing, needs her help and needs her right now.

Tears suddenly formed from her eyes, but they weren't tears of sadness... But of joy.

_**"If you feel something telling you must do or go somewhere where you need to be, then you follow what your instinct or intuitive tells you to do."** _

Her sky-blue eyes widened, and her feet picked up their pace.

_'Could it be? Is it-...? Please, let it be!'_

She skid a corner, nearly fallen from a puddle making the ground slippery, following what the pulse in her head is telling her to go. The more rapidly the pulses went, the closer she knew she was heading for the source. Her hope was soaring, as her spirit felt free of all burdens that plagued her mind this past month.

_'It's got to be him! It must be him!'_

Three minutes of running without stopping, she found herself in a cross-section tunnel. Finally, having to stop when she needed to get the air back into her lungs. Also, that the pulsing in her head instantly went silent.

She had reached her destination... And yet, she found nothing. the only thing she found in the tunnel, was a simple stray sewer rat, that immediately ran from her. Other than that, there was nothing else that caught her attention.

Her hope immediately crumbled away, her joy replaced with sorrow and disbelief.

_'I actually thought I felt him. I was certain that I felt-... Is my mind playing tricks with me?'_

It didn't take long for the three turtles to catch up to her, all a little winded but not in the least tired as she is.

"Jeez, April, where's the fire?" Raphael asked, his eyes scanning for anything suspicious within their surrounding and keeping a firm grip to their leftover meal.

"Did something happen, April?" Donatello asked, concerned that something scared her and was ready to take on anybody who dare to threaten  _his_ girl.

The sixteen year-old let out a deep sigh of defeat, lowering her head to stare at the ground beneath her feet, as she then turned and started making her way back to the path where the Lair is located.

"…It was nothing," she whispered.

Both Raph and Don stared at each other, uncertain on what to do, as they started following the teen back to their home... Until they realized that Michelangelo wasn't following them back.

"Mikey, let's go." The genius turtle called out. He didn't hear a reply, nor did he hear the freckled-face turtle coming their way. In fact, the only thing they did hear from Mikey, was the deep breathing that sounded like… Gasping?

Both older-brothers turned to stare at the orange-masked turtle, who continued staring out ahead of them. Raphael mumbled a few words under his breath, not wanting to stay any longer in the sewers when all he wanted to do was sleep after watching a movie.

"Come on, Mikey. It's time to go home. Don't you want to finish the rest of Murakami's Gyoza?" He quickly pressed on, knowing how much his brother loves food, especially the Pizza Gyoza their human-friend made for them and will immediately take off home to start eating their leftover food.

…Startling as it was, the youngest-turtle still remained in his spot. He didn't even turn his head to their direction, as if Raph and Donnie hadn't been talking to him at all. That, alone, got the two very worried.

They immediately went to their brother's side.

"Mikey, what's wrong?" Donatello questioned, placing a hand on his forehead to feel for a sign of illness.

The turtle's baby-blue eyes were wide, almost owl-like, completely mesmerized by what's keeping his full attention on it and not his brothers and April, who came by to see what the orange-masked turtle was looking at.

Realizing what she didn't see at first, she noticed something laying on the ground in the shadows. In her line of vision, it looks to resemble a large-dog. Soon after, Raph and Don noticed the figure on the ground, too.

"What is that?" Raph asked, as April slowly went over to the figure to get a better look at the figure. He may be trained to work in the shadows, but has yet to be able to see in the dark. Donatello and Michelangelo were in the same predicament, and April hasn't been properly trained to do so until she improves her senses.

As she got closer, her ears were ringing from her heart banging against her eardrum. She got down to her knees and as she reached a hand out, her hand was trembling.

 _'…Please.'_ She prayed, leaning in to the figure.  _'Please, let this be the day… Please…!'_

When her hand finally made contact with the figure... She gasped at the feeling her hand felt. Immediately, she reached out with her other hand and turned the figure onto it's back.

There, at that second, she let out the one word the guys never thought to hear... A word that will bring their family back together, again.

"Leo!"

**TBC**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep! Leo's back! I know you guys are expecting a touchy-family moment for an ending, but I feel like that moment can wait for another time, either in a flashback or a brought up by his brothers.
> 
> …Well... We finally reached the end... Of Season One! Next chapter, we'll be entering the Second Season. Some interesting surprises will occur... Along with some dark events. So, be prepare!
> 
> *: Before any of you guys say, "But didn't Leo changed his mask in the chapter: Disobey a Leader's Order, and you Suffer?", consider this possibility: Leo snuck into Splinter's room when he wasn't in there and was able to get some of the incense to take to his room. Wolves rely on sense of smell to identify their pack-mates and, because the scent of incense reminds him of his sensei, whenever he goes out to patrol and trouble comes, he would focus on the scent of incense his mask carries to stay calm and collective on what to do. Meaning, Splinter could very well mistaken one of the spares for the original mask he gave to Leo and not know about it.
> 
> Also, he could've easily switched the masks when it finally washed, at any time, in-between the time period of chapter 8 to 16. So, very likely, the mask he wore in Chapter 17, is the mask Splinter gave him.
> 
> *: Back then, Splinter had the practice dummy in the dojo, so he can keep an eye on how each of them attacks, until they were old enough to no longer need somebody to spot for them and moved it to the living room.
> 
> *: I always imagine Mikey trying to pull a Tarzan on Leo, only for him to be caught off guard when the eldest turtle knew what he was going to do.
> 
> *: If you guys guessed it, it is from Raphael vs Donatello mini-clip... It was hilarious!
> 
> *: I don't doubt twins have that unique, special bond that may be like telepathy to each other; I'm just not certain if it's what other people claim it to be, when they (myself, included), weren't born with a twin to properly explain it or find that theory being true or not.
> 
> *: Remember- Leo started weapon training at six with Splinter, while the others started at ten but they don't know that Leo was already ahead on weapon training... Until he demonstrated how well he wielded their weapons (Chapter 16: Nature Vs Toxicity).
> 
> *: I'm making it up… Unless, that's what people back then believed to be real.
> 
> *:…I'm still upset with HTTYD 2 and, actually, disappointed with HTTYD 3.
> 
> I did tell you that this chapter would be a challenge. I was hoping to finish this before my 24th birthday, which was on Wednesday… I, honestly, didn't expect this chapter to get long... But hey, at least this should keep you guys entertained until the next chapter comes up.
> 
> R&R


	20. A Recipe for Disaster

**August Fifteenth...  
** _…I made it back home... Just as I promised Faunus that I would. After nearly six days of running from dusk till near dawn, having little time to hunt for food and search for water, barely keeping myself hidden during the day in case human hunters were to be in my area to do some illegal hunting and swimming through the Hudson River, I finally made it back to New York City... Where I eventually collapsed within the sewers, when I body could no longer keep pushing forward._ ****  


_I didn't know how long I remained unconscious, but when I eventually woke up... I found myself back at the Lair, surrounded by my Pack, April and her father. My hands and feet were bandaged, which surprised me, because, while they did get cut from running through some sharp rocks and a few goat's head stickers... I actually thought that, while traveling in my Wolf-form, my actual body wouldn't suffer any injuries my second-body would endure._

_Guess I should've known better and already figure out that in either form, any wounds and/or ailment I gained will effect the other just as much it does to one of the forms I'm in. I'll have to be careful should I receive any injuries while in my wolf-form; who knows what sort of effect it will have on me, when I turn back into my true form._

_…I was expecting to be tears from Don, Mikey and April… I wasn't expecting Raph and, most of all, Master Splinter to shed tears when I woke up... At least, not in public. The very moment I woke up and barely uttered a single word to them, Mikey tackled me into a bone-crushing hug. Literally, squeezing the air from my lungs. The others did join in, of course… Even Sensei embraced me, which is something I'm still not used to getting. Karasu remained by my side, never leaving me. Not even to go to the surface, which she had been doing since my disappearance to continue looking for me throughout the city._

_As expected, they asked me where I've been and, without revealing my rescuers and my new found ability to change into a wolf, I told them about finding myself in a forest and struggling to survive, while recovering from my injured ribs. I even informed them that, while heading home, that I was washed in Northampton for over a month._ _Surprisingly, April and her father used to live in Northampton, until they had to move when she was six._

_It took me nearly two days of bed rest, before I regained my strength and got back to my feet. My hands and feet took an extra two days to recover, which I'm grateful that Donnie made a special cream to help accelerate the healing process that would've taken a little over a week for the scrapes to completely heal. I was also placed on a strict weight gain diet by Sensei and Kirby O'Neil... I wasn't too happy about the news, but didn't complain and was very relieved that they didn't let Mikey serve me his deadly_ _concoctions that could put somebody in a food coma. I was even more fortunate when they allowed me to pick certain food I would eat, including requesting some fruits, a few herbed teas and ingredients I would use to make certain meals I will allow myself to eat._

_…The only down fall, the stores they go to won't have some of the herbs I would gain from the forest that'll help me recover from the mutagen's negative effect to my stomach. However, the stuff they brought over will be more than enough to help my stomach handle food I normally wouldn't be able to consume without feeling sick or in pain. The teas I asked for, while not as effective as the herbs, should help continue the_ _cleansing process that, hopefully, will also aid me with my nausea._

_…I miss Northampton: The trees, the water, the wildlife... The **freedom**... Most of all, I miss my Forest-Sister and Soul-Brother, Faunus and Caela._

_I knew they were both proud of me when I refused his offer to stay with them; Faunus knew that I made a promise, a blood-oath that I need to take care of, before I can allow myself to leave the city and live my life that I choose to live in. I need to rescue my half-sister, Miwa, from the Shredder's grasp and bring her back to her true family. My team and I, also, have to find a way to_ _permanently get rid of Kraang. And to top it all off… Shredder's **Death**._

_No matter how much I wanted to give in to my feral instinct to be part of the wild, I am needed here, in New York City, to help my father and brothers take on our enemies and make the city safe from Foot Clan, mutants and aliens._

_While I am no longer with them..._ _Faunus had given me very important informations that I need to be aware of, along with a certain gift he bestowed upon me. However, until I learn to form a strong bond with the trees of New York, like I have in Northampton, I won't be able to use Root Bond._

_First off: While the berries and vegetations had, indeed, helped me with my stomach issue that the mutation caused damage to... It was only temporary and the effects will soon stop, the moment I stop eating the herbs. But, so long as I keep up with consuming other substitutes that have similar healing properties, they should continue the healing process. If I can't find any suitable substitutes, the mutagen in my stomach will continue damaging my insides and may end up turning into a poison to my digestive system._

_The second information... It involves my transformation. Faunus has a theory to how and why I can suddenly change between my true-form and my wolf-form: He believes that the wasp that stung me in June, may have triggered it. When it stung me, not only was it injecting it's venom, but also pure mutagen to help further the production of it's venom to take complete control over me through my human-DNA. The bee, obviously, didn't know that I was also part wolf, which Kraang must've tried to make the bees do to better capture more humans for their experimental projects._ _He also thinks, because I'm an adolescence and that my anger and adrenaline was pumping that day, may have given the mutagen an edge to merge with my wolf-blood. So, when Don cured me from the bee's venom, he may not had known that I was also given extra mutagen from the bee and enhanced my wolf-DNA… Thus, giving me the ability to change between two bodies, at will._

_Faunus also informed me, because of my long exposer to the venom and the bee's mutagen coursing through my body and merging with my wolf-DNA, that I have an immunity over brainwashing and mind-control. Meaning, to my greatest relief, I can't turn on my family… Though, that doesn't mean that I won't play a trick on my 'captures', just to get the upper-hand before I blow my cover._

_…But the last thing he told me, is something that'll haunt me in my nightmares and make me more cautious when dealing with Kraang: As I'm already aware of, I'm a three-mixed creature between a Diamondback turtle, a human and a wolf. Two-third of my genetics is mammal, my human and wolf-DNA. And while one-third of me is reptilian, because I was born as a turtle, half of me is turtle, while one-fourth of me is human and the other one-fourth is wolf… Meaning, I'm only three-quart related to my brothers and one-fourth related to Master Splinter._

_The mutagen has a certain method for balance amongst it's host it merges genetics and DNA with… However, because I'm also three-fourth animal, that makes me more dangerous than my brothers... More likely, when mutagen is involved._

_Don once stated that if we get mutated again, we'd end up turning into a pile of mush. But that's far from the truth. Faunus stated that if we get mutated a second time, our bodies would end up progressing into something much fiercer and, if possible, turn us into feral animals… And he fears if I ever get mutated again, whatever my body ends up merging with, I would become very unstable, physically and mentally. But the worst thing that could happen, is if I get mixed up with a DNA of another reptilian and/or that the second mutation will put a strain to my current body, while altering my wolf-form. If that were to happen, because of the mutagen needing a form of balance, will deplete my turtle-DNA if the DNA I merge with is reptilian… Or, will deplete either my human and/or wolf genetics._

_The only reason that I don't show any traits as a wolf on the outside, is because I swallowed the mutagen and merged it with the furs I swallowed from Shadow. If the furs were to be outside, during the mutation, I probably would have claws, maybe have some part of me be covered with fur, a wolf's tail, or even wolf ears and a snout… Though, that may not be the case and the results would be much more different._

_I promised Faunus that I would do whatever I can, that's within my powers, to avoid getting mutated. I may not be able to see if I would end getting mutated for a second time, or if my brothers or Sensei could end up getting double mutated. All I do know is this: It doesn't matter if Fate or Destiny has a role in this. So long as there's breath in me, nothing will keep me in my way from completing and reaching my goals._

* * *

"Ninja Dodgeball!" Michelangelo cheered, catching the Kraang Communication Orb that Raphael tossed towards him. The red-masked turtle caught it in both hands.

"Stick it in your shell!" Raph called out, tossing the orb at the tire-swing, which pushed it right into the Space Heroes pinball machine when the orange-masked turtle ducked. In the direction it hit the pinball machine, the orb shot straight towards the Shoji, making it's way towards Sensei… Who, without coming out of his meditative state, used his Jade-Cane sword to tap it right back to the living-room, resuming his meditation... Accompanied by his eldest-son, Leonardo, who remained meditating as well, on the other side of the tree.

Not long after he got better, though is still under the weight gain diet, he immediately went back to training. However, wanting him to slowly gather his strength to resume training, Splinter decided to focus on meditating and performing a few Katas. As expected, Leo didn't object or complained to the decision; despite having to increase his speed, endurance and improving skills of his own, his strength had faltered a bit since he's been a bit picky on hunting certain animals that weren't expecting offsprings or younglings and mostly relying on herbs and vegetation to help his stomach.

He also decided, while the mediated, he will proceed to form a connection with their Peach Tree* and soon, the trees of New York. Luckily for him, he just needed to bond with a certain amount of trees within the city and will then be able to use Root Bond with all trees in the city. He hoped that, one day, he'll be able to be as skilled on using Root Bond as Faunus and his brothers.

Taking her spot between the back of his head and the edge of his shell, Karasu decided to take a nap, still continuing on taking in the comfort that her big brother is alive and is back home. Becoming his Little Shadow. She knows how unresponsive Leo and Master Splinter are whenever they're in the middle of meditating, and how it's best to never try and disturb them during their meditation.

…If only her older-brothers Raphael and Michelangelo were respectful as she is, instead of deciding to be disruptive in the Lair.

"Hey!" Now, April's voice called out from the entrance, prompting both father and son to come out of their meditation. In the process, Karasu was forced to get up. Her nap completely ruined.

 _ **"Couldn't they had taken their game, outside of the nest and somewhere in the sewers?"**_ She grumbled out, ruffling her feathers.

_Them being_ _ destructive in the Lair, means they're going back to normal. _

Leonardo, smirking at her irritation, reached out with his right-arm, silently telling her to perch on his limb. She did as she was instructed, earning some soothing strokes by her big-brother.

_**May be of some relief of Kins to retain Pup-like antics. However, using property Omega-Brother Donatello possesses to gather information from Kraang is not wise of Kins to use as object to destroy Den.** _

"Why must they insist on playing their game inside of the Lair, and not in the sewers?" Master Splinter questioned, starting to make his way outside of the dojo when Donatello's voice came out, demanding to know why the Kraang Communication Orb is being used as a ball. Behind him, Leo slightly coughed up a laugh, as Karasu let out a high pitch "Auh!".

_**"Did Papa read my mind?!"** _

At that, the blue-masked turtle allowed himself to chuckle, continuing his gentle petting to the raven/crow-hybrid.

"I think that was just a mere coincident, Kara." He whispered, following Master Splinter to see what the commotion was about.

"This is a rare and fragile piece of alien tech! You guys can't just-" The genius turtle berated his two brothers, both of which not interested to take his word seriously and cut him off in mid-sentence.

"Eh, don't get your shellundies in a tangle, Donnie. The Kraang are toast!"

"Yeah, lighten up, Dude. This is a party! Wow! Unh!"

Splinter decided to put an end to their dispute, and get them back on track to an important question that's been bothering him since July.

"My sons... I know you are still joyously reveling in the defeat of our enemies, but a great question remains."

"What if cupcakes could talk?" Mikey answered, his mind still set on eating something sugary and sweet to celebrate.

Leo held in a sigh.

_'The thoughts and minds that goes on in his heads...'_

"Are our enemies truly defeated?" Their father stated. "The Shredder is a crafty and patient foe who bides his time."

Nobody within the Lair didn't like what he just said.

"You really think he'd be back, Sensei?" Donnie asked. "You told us he lost whatever sense of honor he had left. Besides, we haven't gotten the chance to truly celebrate our success, since-…" The genius turtle stalled on his sentence, as he and the others stared at the blue-masked turtle, who felt a bit awkward by the stares and turned his gaze to the ground beneath him. "Well, you know... We feel now is still the time to actually celebrate."

"Yeah, and if Shredder does show up, we got it all taken care of." Raph stated, pulling his sais out to show he's ready to fight their archenemy.

The three started making their way towards the exit, planning on continuing their celebration while patrolling the city. Leonardo could only stare, disbelief that their actions.

_'Did they not here what Sensei just told us?'_

_**Kins listened... And Kins preferred to ignore warning of Alpha's words and law.** _

_Father is going to give it to them, now._

Just as his Conscience predicted, the humanoid-rat was just at his limit and wasn't going to let his three sons ignore his words.

" _ **Tomaru**_ (Stop)!" Splinter yelled, cutting off his son's sentence. His yelling started his three younger-sons and Karasu, while Leo was very much prepared for this conversation to come up. "You three have become lazy, overconfident. You shirk your training. This party ends... Now!"

He slammed the end of his Jade-Cane/sword, making all his sons immediately straighten and bow to him, even Karasu couldn't help but straighten up tall to the loud thump of his cane to show he has her undivided attention while Leo still held his arm out as he bowed, as the fifty year-old made his way back to the dojo.

"Well that was kinda harsh." Michelangelo replied, a bit upset that he's most likely won't be getting those sweets his mind was hooked up on.

Setting Karasu back to his shoulder, Leonardo slowly made his way to his brothers.

"Sensei is right, you guys." He said, wanting them to see reason on why they need to get back to training. "Just because we prevented an alien invasion and that neither Kraang nor Shredder made any attack since that day, doesn't mean we should be getting cocky."

As always, Raphael chose not to take his words seriously.

"Ha! It's not cockiness when ya got the skills to kick massive-"

Suddenly, without warning, the Kraang Communication Orb, held within Donatello's hands, started to flash multiple, tiny pinkish-purple dots. It let out a humming sound, cutting off the red-masked turtle's sentence.

"Whoa…"

April, who came out from the kitchen, after setting the two boxes of pizzas on the table, stood in-between Leo and Don.

"That thing's working again?" She asked, not liking the sound it was making.

"It's been quiet for weeks." Donatello replied, not sure how to explain on why it's suddenly working, again. "It must have received an incoming signal. Which can mean only one thing."

"Cupcakes can talk!" Mikey cried out, earning an annoyed look by the purple-masked turtle.

Already knowing the answer, Leonardo glared angrily at the orb. A low growl escaping his throat.

"The Kraang are back." He growled.

_**Just as expected. Enemies return, continue blood and war Kraang created with Pack.** _

Understanding what his brother just said, Mikey's happy mood immediately went away… And, in his mind, glimpses from the past of their last encounter with Kraang nearly costing them their brother's life.

"I guess the party really is over."

With that said, they all immediately head for Don's Lab. Once inside, Don quickly hook the orb back to the special hook-up scanner he installed to his computer, getting back to encrypting it's message. While he, Leo, April and Karasu watch what the results would bring up on the screen, Raph and Mikey went to the tank that held Timothy, staring at him and, occasionally, tapping at the glass to see some form of reaction.

A few minutes later, Don got something.

"The encryption's tough to crack, but it seems like the Kraang are transporting some kind of cargo." He quickly typed away, digging further to the information the orb was giving out. It brought up a clear image that the guys should recognize very well. "They're using the stealth ship!"

Leo knew there was a chance that the Kraang would have more than one stealth ship, along with a blueprint to create more. Even if he figured there was a chance that on their own home world time would be many more times faster than Earth's, learning that they would be using another stealth ship still amazed the blue-masked turtle on how fast and quick they were able to make a new one.

_ They must've taken the time to make more stealth ships, since their first one got completely destroyed by the missile launcher. Which means, this ship won't be the last stealth ship you and the others will have to destroy… Unless, you find a way to destroy all their blueprints and the rest of the ships they made. _

_'It's not going to be easy, but it'll be the only option we have. For now, we have to focus on this ship, first.'_ "We've gotta find out what that cargo is.  _-He turned to Donnie.-_ Don, are the beacons we installed still setup and active?"

His brother smiled to his answer.

"Affirmative," he answered. "We can also track it with this." He held up an old Game Boy Console with his right-hand, with two steel turbo beaters as antennas installed on top and a big button added to the small console. "It's aligned to the radar dishes. A triangulating pulse-"

"English, Professor Brainioff." Raphael cut him off, not wanting to hear more boring, science that he and Mikey don't understand.

Annoyed by his brother's interruption, Don complied to his request.

"It will detect the Kraang spaceship." He explained, a bit slowly to purposely get back at Raph. He then turned to April, who was petting Karasu. "April, can you stake out a rooftop and feed us the ship's coordinates?"

She didn't seem that thrilled to Don's request.

"Me? I don't know anything about radar!"

She clearly shows sign to not wanting to encounter the Kraang, not after what they did to her in July and making her feel guilty of Leo's decision to stay behind on the Technodrome. However, because they can't track it and pursue it at the same time, they can't risk damaging the small device if they end up going into battle with Kraang.

Leonardo hates to force include her for the task, but he hoped that the instant they get the coordinates, her task for the mission will be complete and will be free to return to the safety of her own home.

_Even if she was given some instructions to figure it out, she could, by accident, give the wrong coordinates. Plus, somebody will have to spot her and make sure that the beacons don't get damage or tampered with._

**_Hatchling-Sister Karasu can observe beacons, even spread word to Wind-Soarers not harm beacons… Yet, still need another to watch over Upsilon-Sister._ **

_'Agreed... And sadly, there's only one person we know who can be out in the open with her.'_ "What about your dad?" He forced out, hating himself for now bringing her father to the conversation.

"My dad?" April repeated, sounding a bit irritated of her overprotective parent being brought up, especially since it took nearly an hour of wheedling to convince him to let her go to the Lair and bring the guys some pizzas. "He barely lets me out of the house anymore. He's never gonna go for this."

Catching what Leo was asking their human-friend to do, Donatello went along with including Kirby.

"Please, April!" He begged, raising both his hands. "Your dad's a scientist. We really need his help!"

April was at a loss on what to do. she knows, from the bottom of her heart, that her father will never agree to help her or the turtles, since the Kraang will be involved... But, if the Kraang are attempting to bring back their plot of taking over the world, then she has to get herself involved.

And what Donatello said, is true. They're going to need help from her father.

"I'll... I'll see what I can do."

She walked out of the lab, with the tracker in hand, heading for the exit of the Lair to get into position.

As their human-friend leaves, Leonardo turned to Karasu. He let out a very love rumbling sound.

_**"Stay close to her."** _

Taking the message seriously, Karasu spread her wings and immediately took off to the hidden shaft that'll lead her out of the Lair and to the surface.

_Is it really a good idea to send her? Wouldn't it be better if she stayed behind? I mean, she could send the message to the birds to be in a lookout, but why have her go with April?_

_'...I need her to get ready, when something happens and alerts them of the danger.'_

**_...Vision? Another glimpse of Future?_ **

_'I'm afraid so...'_

_ Any ideas what it's telling you? _

_'…No...'_

He closed his eyes, feeling the vision coming back to throb his mind.

* * *

_Bats… Screeching. Flying out of the shadows._

_Lights falling from the sky... Like stars..._

_Two screams... A male and female..._

**_"You're my only friend, now."_ **

* * *

The voice who spoke to him belonged to April, but was very confused on why she would say that to him.

"Yo, Leo! Get out here!" Michelangelo called out, pulling the blue-masked turtle from his thoughts about the vision he had in his dreams last night and headed out of the lab to see what was going on in the tunnels.

…There, he saw what looks to be a makeshift rocket that children would ride on in amusement parks. However, this one has a built-in propeller that looks to be from an airboat and the cart clearly showed signs of being connected to other kiddie cars to make room for all four brothers.

"I call it... the T-rawket!" Donatello proudly introduced, after giving out each a helmet and the backpack that housed their Turtle Gliders for his brothers to wear.

Leonardo gave him a blank look.

_'Why does every invention he makes that ends up being of use to us and our missions, start with the letter T or turtle related?'_

_ …Because you guys are turtles? _

_'That doesn't mean he has to give them names that's turtle related, or start with T. What's next? A blimp that's called "The_ _Turtle Blimp"?'_

_ That would actually be amazing… Though, where would he keep the blimp? It wouldn't fit in the Lair. _

**_Enough talk. Must depart!_ **

"Where are we going, Jupiter?" Raphael asked, thinking their genius brother went overboard with what they'll be riding in that looks like they're going into outer space, instead of catching the stealth ship.

"Jupiter!" Michelangelo cried out, eyes big in fear from hearing the name of a random planet Raph decided to bring up. "But that place is infested with space yeast!"

The three big brothers stared at each other, none having the slightest idea on where the youngest-turtle got that idea from. Knowing they need to get a move on, Leonardo put on his helmet.

"We wasted enough time. It's time to get going." He announced, getting his brothers to start getting into the T-Rawket and strapping themselves into their seat. Before he got in, he pulled out his T-Phone to contact April, an image of a white-deer standing next to a stream showed on his screen on what he views April as. "April, you guys in position?"

 _ **"**_ _ **Um, roger. I think."**_ April answered, sounding a bit unsure from her position.

Outside of the background, Leo can hear Karasu chirping. No doubt, she was talking to other birds nearby. He also heard Kirby O'Neil, sounding a bit suspicious about their reason being on top of a roof.

_**"It's kind of late for a school project, don't you think?"** _

_**"It's, um, extra credit, Dad. We're... we're tracking, uh, pigeon migration!"** _

Leonardo had to cover his face to silence his laugh.

_'"Pigeon migration"?! That's the best she can come up with?!'_

_**Upsilon** **-Sister not know Rodent Flyers don't** _ **_migrate?_ **

_'Seemingly not… Let's hope her father doesn't get wise and start asking her for the truth.'_

**_"_ _Is that the Kraang?!"_ **

_ …Well, so much for keeping it secluded from Kirby. _

Hearing Kirby's distraught voice, the blue-masked turtle got in the T-Rawket and strap himself in-between Donatello and Raphael.

"Coordinates locked! This is it." Don informed his brothers, starting up the engine.

"If we explode, I swear I'll slap the green off you." Raph warned.

Knowing they were all ready to go, Leonardo gave his brother the okay.

"Launch!" He yelled, prompting Donnie to push the red button.

From behind, the end of the propeller narrowed… Then, a blast of burning fire shot out and the four brothers took off.

He has never ridden on a rollercoaster before, but Leonardo is quite certain that if he was to do a comparison, the T-Rawket would very much prove to being faster then the average roller coaster.

_We always believe that one of these days, Don's crazy inventions is going to kill us... And right now, feels like that day has finally come!_

**_This why Pup no longer should trust Kin's creation involved with flight!_ **

Feeling the air has froze in his throat, Leonardo kept his beak tight and tightened his hands into fists. While he remained quiet, his brothers all voiced out their own experience on riding a rocket.

"Whoo-hoo!"

"Whoa!"

"Cool!"

 _'Of course, they would be having fun at a time like this!'_ His heart hammered against his plastron, forcing himself to take small, even breath to stay calm, which isn't easy when rushing wind was blowing against his face.  _'If we have a dog here with us, they wouldn't be having as much fun or thrill by this amount of force the wind would be slamming into their faces.'_

_ …Imagine what Bradford would be like, if that were to ever happen. _

The moment his mind imagine the humanoid-Akita Inu riding inside the T-Rawket or something similar to an actual rocket, yelping to figure out if he should be having fun by the massive amount of air blowing through his fur and into his nose, or be screaming and struggling to focus on what's going on from all sounds and smells messing with his senses, did brought a smirk to appear on Leo's face.

_'That would be something to enjoy.'_

The T-Rawket made a sharp curve-turn, continued picking up speed straight down the tunnels… Then, right in front of the humans, shot right out of the subway entrance and, as Donatello pulled the handles down, launched up to the sky, almost hitting a building that's still under constructions. The four turtles went higher and higher in the air, already reaching thirty feet in the air in over five seconds, until Donatello finally pulled the lever to his right.

…The T-Rawket stopped going higher, as it's fire was cut off and right before it started to nose-dive back down to Earth, the turtles were ejected from their seats and the wings of their Turtle Gliders were released.

Time seem to have slowed down for the blue-masked turtle, as he gazed up at the full-moon. His heart was racing, feeling the urge to turn into a wolf and howl to the glowing orb in the night sky... If he wasn't perfecting his backflip from the T-Rawket and righting himself to properly fly in the air.

 _'When we finish our mission... When I'm alone.'_ He promised in his mind.

"Booyakasha-! Oww!" Michelangelo's cry of pain... And witnessing him slamming at nothing but the air, was all the warning Leo got before he shifted himself to have his feet absorb the impact of making contact with metal.

Without a doubt, they found what the were looking.

"Looks like we found it." He commented, around the time Raphael slammed into the stealth ship after Donatello.

When they pulled themselves up, the four brothers scaled to the top of the ship, disconnecting the Turtle Gliders from their shells and to fall to a nearby building where April and her father stood. Without their Tegaki, they had to be careful and keep a firm grip to the smooth surface of the stealth ship. Clearly, with the ship continuing on going straight and not coming out of it's Camouflage Mode, they didn't alerted the Kraang from inside that they have company.

Which, after they each pulled out a hidden knife from their wrists to loosen a piece of metal from the ship, made it easy for them to startle the three aliens when the four came down from the hole from above.

 _ **"It is the ones who call themselves 'The Turtles'."**_ One of the two Kraang at what most likely are the controls to the ship replied, sounding a bit concern.

 _ **"Kraang! We must alert Kraang!"**_ A second Kraang replied, all three huddling up to the controls with their little pods… Though, from the way they positioned themselves, made the blue-masked turtles suspicious.

_Something's not right._

_'I know. It feels like they want us to keep their eyes on them for some reason. But why?'_

"Huh! Three little floating blobs of brains, that's it?" Raphael mocked, not sounding a bit disappointed of the fight being boring by at least getting the chance to knock some Kraang around.

"We could take these guys in our sleep." Donatello replied, pulling his Naginata Bō out.

"We could take these guys in our sleep  _and_  with our eyes closed. Wha!" Michelangelo added in, not bothering to pull his Kusarigama from their hold when he'll be treating them like floating dodgeball.

Leonardo glared at his brothers.

_'Didn't they hear Sensei saying they're being overconfident?'_

**_Kins too cocky. Not allowing Instincts to warn them of threat._ **

_'Whatever this threat is, it must be something big if the Kraang aren't contacting their leader of the cargo.'_

From behind them, a low rumbling sound startled them to turn around and the rest of the brothers to pull their weapons out. There, they saw a door open and some form of mist coming out of the door.

_**Clank! Clank!** _

The sound of metal bending and being ripped off warned the turtles that whatever it was inside that room is coming out… There, stomping out, they saw what looks to be a Aquamarine-blue furred gorilla, walking tall and large, with mixture of wires and metals... With  _no_  head.

"Aw, sewer apples." Michelangelo cursed out.

"Uh, where's its head?" Raphael asked, finding it very odd that it somehow knows where it's going.

Then, making it's way towards the Kraang, as the brothers tried to lay an attack on it, the large gorilla-robot smacked them out of it's way. One of the Kraang floated towards it.

 _ **"Biotroid, engage."**_ The alien announced, going to the top and placing itself inside the metal-hole of the body.

Leonardo and his brothers watch as the Kraang becomes one with the machine, locking it's pod into the gorilla-suit that's been called 'Biotroid' and activating it's battle mode. The body raised both it's fists in the air… Then, coming out from it's chest, two chainsaws connected to two connecting rods to the body*.

The humanoid-wolf/turtle felt his stomach churn.

_'That's... I don't even know what to think!'_

_Either horrifying... Or disturbing._

"Okay, maybe we were a  _little_  cocky." Donatello said, almost as if apologizing to their enemies for belittling them. Leo glared at his genius brother.

_'"A **little** "?! And you guys now realize what Sensei was trying to tell you!'_

Before he could make a word come out, the Biotroid released his attack on the turtles by slamming both fists to the ground. Leonardo put himself at the front, blocking the chainsaws that tried to come down onto him and his brothers with his swords. However, one of the rods constricted around his right-arm and pulled him to the side. It released him, making him slam his shell against the wall of the ship.

Michelangelo, witnessing the Kraang being focused on Raphael, attacked from behind.

"Ooh, yeah!" As always, he had to alert the enemy of his coming, but even when the Kraang didn't turn on time to see the orange-masked turtle landing his attack on the body, the Kusarigama didn't do any damage to the suit at all. The alien turned to glare at it's new attacker. "Uhh…"

Completely at a loss on what to do, Mikey left himself wide-open to get thrown to the back of the ship. While recovering from the attack, his ninja reflexes allowed him to duck away from one of the chainsaws that tried to stab him in the shoulder.

Unknown to them, the chainsaw has actually damaged a scanner that was keeping a door closed… There, when it pulled itself out and the doors opened, revealed the mystery cargo the Kraang are trying to deliver.

Leonardo's eyes widen in horror.

_'No...'_

_Of course, it had to be **that**!_

Fear and horror ran through his mind, as he gazed at the many canisters of mutagen before them... Which then turned his fears into anger.

"The shipment!" He yelled, charging towards the Biotroid before leaping in the air, bringing down both Musashi and Kamiizumi down on top of the Kraang fighting his brothers. "It's Mutag-!"

The Biotroid, after tossing aside Donatello, sweep with it's left-arm to swat the blue-masked turtle to the front of the ship… However, to that Kraang's error, it caused the eldest turtle to ram his shell to the orb controlling the ship…  _Destroying_  it in the process.

He quickly picked himself up, kicking the two aliens away from the control panel, before turning back to the fight before him.

"Don! Get that door closed!" He ordered, pushing himself to get back into the battle.

With Raphael held in one of it's right-hand, the Biotroid made an attempted grab for Leo with his left... Leonardo delivered a stab through it's palm, forcing it pull away and release Raph from it's grip. Meanwhile, instead of listening to Leo about getting the door closed, Donatello and Michelangelo attacked in unison to strike from behind, releasing yells of war.

Leonardo growled.

_'When will they get it in their heads, to not yell when attacking from behind!'_

As he expected to happen, the Biotroid smacked the two away, sending them to the back of the room... Hitting another panel they, unnoticeably, activated.

"This thing's too tough!" Don informed, rubbing his head to cure the headache he gained.

Leo didn't bother to respond to the purple-masked turtle's discovery, too focused on fighting the beast while he and Raph were forced to pull back to stay clear of the chainsaws.

 _'How are we supposed to beat this thing?'_ He asked himself, swiping Kamiizumi to his left to force one of the chainsaws away from him.

_**Best option, would be to flee… However, Pup and Kins can't flee. Nowhere to escape.** _

_ Not only that, but we can't leave the mutagen with the Kraang! _

"Oh, I got this!"

Dread filled Leonardo's heart when he heard Michelangelo's voice, turning his head to watch the youngest-turtle to come at one of the two Kraang at the control ship and kicking the non-prepared alien to the roof of the ship.

 _'Mikey! No!'_  His throat felt like it was constricted, preventing him from calling out, as he and the others watch the Kraang slam right down to the control panel... Below the Biotroid, the hatch opened and gravity attempted to pull the Kraang down.

While it's right-hand made a quick grab for the ledge, the left-hand, damaged from Leo's earlier attack, didn't response to it's desperate attempt to pull itself back to the ship.

However, to the turtles' horror, the Kraang used the two chainsaws to dig themselves to the ground of the ship and started pulling itself up and back to the ship.

Leonardo knew that he couldn't let that thing come back... He was left with only one option.

_**…Do it...** _

_ …Do what you must... _

Without any hesitation, after securing his blades back into their sheaths, Leonardo charged at the Biotroid and shoved it back down the hole... Causing the both of them to fall out of the stealth ship and towards one of the buildings of New York.

"LEO!" He heard his three brothers cry out, helpless to do anything but to watch the two fall back down to Earth, as the ship continued heading heading east.

As the two continued to fall, the Biotroid bear-hugged Leonardo to it's chest with it's right-arm and shifted them to positioned the turtle to hit the rooftop before the Kraang disconnected itself from the gorilla-body. He struggled to break free, digging his fangs through the thick material of metal and fur to force the body to lose control in it's other limb. While his fangs would be strong enough to bend and break solid steal, it was no match for non-Earth metal.

 _'Move... Damn it, move!'_ He yelled in his head, trying but failing to turn the both of them to have the Biotroid to hit the ground before him.

_**…Release, Pup. Shift.** _

His eyes widened from his Instinct telling him what it wanted him to do.

_'I can't. Not here, not when April and Kirby are in sight-range to witness-'_

_You can worry about that, **after**  you've taken down Kraang-Kong!_

Leonardo was stunned; now his Conscience, which avoids to agree with anything his Instincts would tell him to do that's involved with his animalistic behavior, is telling him to turn into his wolf-form.

_ It's either that, or sustain serious injuries that could lead to your death! Now, do  **it**! _

The rooftop was getting closer, and Leo knew that it was now or never. And so, without any hesitation, he closed his eyes… Then, when his eyes snapped open, his body immediately changed into a black-wolf.

With or without a head, the Biotroid didn't have time to prepare itself when the wolf in it's arm slipped out of it's grasp and planted himself on it's back. Leo jumped off of the robotic-gorilla's back and landed on the roof with ease, unlike Biotroid, which slammed right onto the hard cement.

A few sparks jumping off of it's fur and mechanical parts showed that it's taken damage, but still, after a drop, the Biotroid still found the energy to pick itself off the ground and get back up. The Kraang, which was able to glide down safely in it's pod, got back into the spot as the head of the body.

_**"Even if Turtle is now known in the form that is known as 'Wolf', Kraang still has the upper-hand to defeat the one known as Turtle."** _

The black-wolf simply glared at the Kraang, crouching low to the ground to ready himself to sprint or jump. His swords slightly leaned down but remained strapped to his back.

_'Thank God Don was able to upgrade my belt and strap to firmly adjust to my size. Though, I can't say the same for the wrappings.'_

As he shook the white-wrappings around his paws and pads around his four limbs to come off, while tightening the wrappings around his forearms to keep his hidden blades close by and pushing his mask to go over his snout to stay wrapped around his neck, Leo turned his head slightly to the right grab for Kamiizumi's hilt and pull it out from it's scabbard with his fangs. He prepared himself for his opponent to attack.

...What he didn't expect, was a Biotroid to turn it's back to him and reveal two metal butts to drop to the ground, revealing two gun cannons to pop out and take aim.

 _ **"Biotroid, engage."**_ Kraang ordered, signaling the body to start shooting... Each blast administering the sound of gas releasing.

The black-wolf pushed himself to dodge the pink-blasts, using his tongue to turn his sword to rest against his cheek and keeping it in place with his fangs. With great speed, he dodged each and every blast that came to him.

As he ran from side to side, he mentally took noticed a few things going on around him: First, that the Biotroid is resting it's hands against the brick wall of the building. The second part, the Kraang is showing no signs of detaching itself from the gorilla-suit.

And third... A bunch of shining lights are falling from the sky... Coming from the stealth ship.

His stomach dropped, dread filling his heart when he realized that those shining lights are the canisters of mutagen.

_"No!"_

One of Leo's ears pulled back to the direction the sound of the voice came from, recognizing the caller being Kirby, until the sound of breaking glass followed suit… Then, a terrifying howl of pain and fear.

_"Dad! No!"_

Leonardo stopped for a moment, turning his head to the roof where he heard the voice of sixteen year-old, April O'Neil.

 _'April!'_ He called out in his head, before pushing himself to jump far to the left when the Biotroid continued shooting. He snarled at the Kraang, his fangs clenching tightly to the hilt of his sword.  _'I need to end this… Now!'_

Not bothering to worry of the possibility of getting hit, he charged.

The Kraang, taken back by the speed the black-wolf was going, froze up. The Biotroid, continuing to keep shooting, couldn't keep up with the canine's speed and when the black-wolf leapt in the air, couldn't make it's cannons follow the wolf's movement on time to keep attacking.

Leonardo, with the control of his tongue and being brought down by gravity, positioned himself and Kamiizumi to point down to deliver a deadly blow from above... The poor alien couldn't react on time to even make an attempt to save itself, for a second time.

The heavy scent of toxic-squid, fire and burnt fur entered his nose, making him putting more force of his blade to sink further into the struggling Kraang being stabbed through and screeching it's last breath before going limp. The Biotroid, overrun by the blade cutting through wires and the blood from Kraang mixing and merging into the damage wires, released sparks off it's body.

Immediately, Leo yanked the sword right out of his two opponents and launched himself right off the gorilla-body, right before the Biotroid suddenly exploded into a small-fireball. Before hitting the ground, the black-wolf forced his body to turn back into his humanoid-turtle's body. The fifteen year-old turtle, making sure his wrappings remained tied to his limbs and putting his mask back on his face, removed Kamiizumi from his mouth and sheathed his blade back into it's scabbard before running up the wall to get to April and Kirby O'Neil.

When he scaled the wall, he felt relieved when he saw April, completely unharmed. But when he looked to where she was staring at... His relief went south. There, perched up at the upper-part of the roof she stood on, is an enlarge, disfigured bat.

…A  _mutated_  bat, crossed with a  _ **human**_.

He immediately realized who the mutated bat was.

_ …It's Kirby O'Neil. _

_**Upsilon-Sister's Sire…** **Omicron*-Uncle,** _ _**turned by mutagen.** _

If it wasn't for the pointy-ears, two-extra pink-appendages from his back that also housed as his wings, the misshaped nose, the furs covering the bottom-part of his body, the large-fangs, three of his four limbs enlarged and exposing of claws, his head now three times larger than it's average size and the pulsing of mutagen all over his head and chest, Leonardo would clearly see the father of his human-friend standing before the girl.

Within the background, he noticed the sound of bats screeching and some flying off away from the area, as the rest went to hang underneath a rooftop water tower. To his shock, his sharp eyesights informed him that the bats were none other than Vampire Bats. The information made the humanoid-wolf/turtle worried for his friend and immediately ran to her.

However, his running drew Kirby's attention onto him, thanks to his strong hearing, and, feeling that the turtle was a threat that has come to harm him and this smaller-creature that he knew belongs to him, let out a disturbing screech and lunged in the air.

_**"Scrreeeeeeeeee!"** _

When taking notice of her turtle-friend that she and her father had seen falling from the stealth ship with a gorilla-body running towards her, she ran to the blue-masked turtle.

"Leo!" She called out a warning, unable to get to him from the distance between the two buildings they were on and could only watch as her dad dived down at the turtle.

Leonardo's first instinct was to grab for his swords, but because he knew the creature before him is the girl's father and not wanting to harm an extended member of his pack, he forced himself to not grab for his blades.

_**"Screeeeeee!"** _

When Kirby made an attempt to swipe him with his left-hand, the turtle forced himself to drop and roll to the right. He hit his shell against the wall, making the distance between the two only mere inches away from the claws slicing at his limbs and plastron.

"Dad! Stop!" April yelled at her father. She does not know for certain if he can understand her, let alone recognize her as his child. But, she knew that she may very well be the only person to reach out to him and save Leo's life. "Don't hurt him!"

When hearing her voice, Kirby remained hovering in the air, staring at her in confusion and cocking his head to the side. The response was very surprising to the blue-masked turtle.

_'He listens to her!'_

_He may had been turned, but Kirby must still be in there._

_**Odd... Male Screech Flyers don't assist raising own young, yet** **Omicron-Uncle willing to protect and listen to own pup.** _

While he was glad that the humanoid-bat stopped attacking, Leo's worry for the girl only grew more.

"April! You need to get out of here!" He replied, keeping himself up against the wall should Kirby continue his pursuit to attack him. The human-girl gave him a serious look, showing no intention on leaving him or her dad.

Kirby stared down at the turtle, baring his large fangs and screeching down at him, as if scolding him for talking to his daughter… Or, in this case, his  _Pup_.

"Dad!" She yelled again, making him stop his screech, before turning back to Leo. "Are you hurt, Leo? Where are the others?"

While keeping his eyes on Kirby, he answered the girl.

"I'm all right. As for the guys, they're still inside the stealth ship.  _-His eyes searched at the sky, narrowing his gaze at hoping to see a slight glimpse of uncharacteristic activity to alert him where the ship was at.-_ Let's hope that they find a way to bring the ship down.  _-He turned his gaze back to Kirby, who continued to glare down at him.-_ Right now, I need to convince your dad that I'm not a threat to you or himself."

"But how?"

As his eyes remained on the humanoid-bat, slowly and calmly... He pulled at the strap that held the scabbards of his swords off his right-shoulder, before letting his belt slide off his shell and let his gear pool around his feet.

Kirby and April were taken back by his action, as he stepped away from his swords... Then, to further the shock, he pulled at the wrappings around his wrists to release the hidden knives and have them fall next to the belt and strap. Leaving himself completely unarmed.

Kirby stared down at the humanoid-wolf/turtle, taking in the sight of the teenager exposing himself not able to attack him or his Pup... Signaling him that he isn't an enemy, and is proving himself to being an ally.

_**"Eeer…?"** _

While still a bit suspicious, the humanoid-bat calmly flew down to the rooftop, cautiously stalking over to the turtle, with his winged hands carrying him over to make himself bigger and taller than the already smaller-male.

"Dad!" April called out again, fearing he was going to hurt her friend. She made an attempt to pull out her Tessen, but Leo held out a hand at her direction, stopping her.

"Don't, April." He ordered, his eyes remaining locked with Kirby's enhanced green-eyes. "This is the only way for me to gain his trust. You mustn't interfere, or he'll view me as some pesky intruder that's making you react negatively to him."

She hesitated for a moment, but she eventually put away Shirogane, letting her mutated father to do whatever he wants with her turtle-friend.

As he came closer, Kirby made a few low, hissing sounds. Followed by a few clicking. Leo knew he was trying to test his reaction and see if he would respond to his sound.

_'Remain calm, and stay quiet.'_

His winged hands lowered him close to the ground, bringing him close enough to still appear larger before the fifteen year-old and enough room to pull away if he chooses to attack.

While this was going on, without breaking eye-contact with Kirby, Leonardo slowly forced himself to get down on his hands and feet, purposely making himself smaller and less of a threat. His actions made the humanoid-bat to lower himself even closer, his feet now touching the ground and hunching over to lean on his left-hand.

**_Guard lowering. Now, will detect Pup's scent. Must attempt to gather_ ** _**Omicron-Uncle's scent.** _

His eyes never turning away from Kirby's, Leonardo leaned in onto his knees and positioned himself to lay on his side, exposing his plastron and pulling his head back to show his throat. While the humanoid-bat leaned in closer and started sniffing the turtle, his attention no longer looking into Leo's eyes, the humanoid-wolf/turtle took the opportunity to slowly drag himself to his large-hand... And gently started rubbing his head against the furry-arm.

His stomach groaned when his nose smelt the mutagen on the humanoid-bat, making him feel a bit nauseous that he was trying to cover his scent with the creature's own that still held evidence of mutagen. Luckily for the fifteen year-old, mutagen tends to dry very quickly when the transformation of it's host was complete. Meaning, neither he nor April would run the risk of getting mutated from making physical contact with her father.

From the other side of the building, April was stunned. Here was her friend, lying on the ground before her mutated-father, who could easily kill him with the swipe of his claws or even rip his limbs off with his fangs, was somehow staying alive and is rubbing part of his body against her dad's enlarged-arm. And her father was just sniffing the turtle's plastron and shell, before turning to the turtle's head.

…Then, he nuzzled the turtle's head with his nose…  _Smiling_ down at Leo!

_**"Eeer!" ~Click-click-click~ *Rrrrumble*** _

Her heart leapt in her chest, while her legs turned to jelly and fell onto her folded legs.

 _'Oh, thank God…!'_  She thought, relieved that her father wasn't going to hurt or eat Leo... At least, for now. There's no telling what his mental state is at, and could set off to attack at any moment.

…And sadly, she was right.

"Whoo, yah!"

"Unh!"

From behind her, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo landed from swinging on their grappling hooks, after jumping out of the stealth ship. They saw their big brother crouched on his hands and feet, his weapons off to the side and a giant mutant looming over him, shoving his face against Leo's smaller-form and letting out random clicking sounds.

Obviously, mistaking the sight of their brother being injured and that this mutant was going to eat him or further hurt him, the three drew out their weapons.

"Let's move!" Raphael ordered, being the first to jump across the building and making an attempt to swipe his weapons at the mutant to keep away from his twin.

Leonardo, turning his head to the call of his red-masked brother, tried to get them to stop.

"Guys! Don't!" His words fell on deaf ears, along with the battle cries the three made, and the three brothers made their efforts to attack the mutant they didn't know to being Kirby O'Neil.

_**"Scrreeeeeeee!"** *Snaaaarrrrlllll*_

Alarmed, Kirby let out a screech and took off into the air, glaring down at the three intruders separating him from this Pup that he felt bonded to and now carries his scent. Despite clearly seeing that they're related, he has already imprinted the young as part of  _his_ colony and is willing to fight the three intruders to take back what he claimed as his.

He let out a powerful, angry screech, encouraging the three brothers to jump in the air and bring their weapons out to attack.

"Stop!"

"No! Don't hurt him!"

The combined calls of Leo and April, telling them to not attack, distracted the three long enough for Kirby to slam right through them in the middle of the air. Then, as the three fell back down to the rooftop, the humanoid-bat made a grab for Leonardo with his right-feet and then flew over to April, grabbing her in his left-feet. With both pups held within his grasp, the humanoid-bat took off into the sky, away from the three intruders and where the three of them will be safe.

"April!"

"Leo!"

* * *

 **A Few Minutes Later; at the Second Time About...**  
Kirby found what he saw as a perfect spot to deposit the two teenagers: A ledge of a building... The home where he and April lived. While they were flying, April passed out. Either from shock, fear or even from exhaustion, Leo didn't know for certain which. What he does know, as the humanoid-bat gently set the two down on the ledge before making short, hissing sounds and taking off to who knows where, that they can't stay on the ledge. However, at the same time, they can't leave the building, either.

_'If we leave, he'll go on a possible rampage to look for us and harm the city.'_

_Even so, you both can't stay on the ledge forever and you need to find a way to contact your brothers._

He pondered on what he and April should do for minutes, until he heard the unconscious girl finally coming out of her sleep. Immediately, he scooted up to the front of the building to her side, checking her over for any sign of injury she could've sustained, before helping her sit up.

"Ugh… Leo?" She asked, hoping that she wasn't seeing things and that her friend is with her right now.

Leo smiled, nodding his head.

"I'm right here, April." He reassured, keeping his hand on her right-shoulder to prevent her from rolling off the edge.

Still a bit drowsy, it took her a moment to see that they're not on the rooftop.

"Where are we?" She slowly crawled on her hands and knees... And nearly slipped off the edge if Leo didn't keep his hold on her shoulder. The near falling alerted her that they're standing on a ledge, making her lean up against the wall. "Please tell me that this is a dream," she requested to the blue-masked turtle.

He shook his head to her plea.

"It's real."

Her sky-blue eyes locked on to the street and people casually walking by below her.

"How did we get here?"

Before he could answer her...

_**"Screeeeee!"** _

The familiar sound of a large, screech warned the two that Kirby has returned from wherever he went, coming down from above and perching up on the ledge, with his winged hands grabbing firmly to the wall behind them.

Kirby shoved his face forward, sniffing the girl, who pushed his face back, before turning to Leonardo. Unlike April, he didn't push him away, but he did scoot back a bit.

_'Is he going to-?'_

**_Brace self, Pup._ **

With or without the warning of his Instinct, Leo's hunch was confirmed on what the humanoid-bat was going to do... And after a few moments of hacking, he regurgitated a bunch of trash and a rat all over April's lap.

...What happened before him, nearly made the fifteen year-old regurgitate, himself, if he didn't try to hold back his dinner.

 _'Do not throw up. Do not throw up!' _He chanted in his head, placing a hand over his mouth when he felt his stomach churn.  _'One hint that tells him that I'm ill, and he'll toss me off the ledge to prevent April from getting sick.'_

As Leo struggles to conceal his stomach problem, April had her own idea to express how ungrateful she is to her father's hard work to get them food.

"Ugh, sick!" She yelled, startling Kirby. "You expect us to eat  _that_ _?! -She shoved the pile of regurgitated trash and dead rat off of her, before glaring at the humanoid-bat.-_ Now go! Go get us some real food! You go, Dad! Go!"

Understanding what she was telling him to do, Kirby took off to the sky to look for food for her and Leo, again. The moment he was gone, Leo leaned to his right and allowed his stomach to empty itself on his part of the ledge, where it all slid off and fell into the alleyway below him.

He gasped for breath, letting out a few coughs to help his throat and spitting out any remaining traces of vomit that still lingers, before his stomach finally settled.

_'Thank God, he's gone. I didn't know how much longer I would have to hold it in, before it would come out!'_

_Yeah, but you also ended up puking the herbal tea out._

He groaned from the thought, knowing that he'll have to retake the tea before the night ends or delay the healing process, allowing the mutagen to regain it's effects to cause serious damage to his healing organ.

Behind him, April gently placed a hand on his left-shoulder.

"You okay, Leo?" She asked, earning a nod from the blue-masked turtle, who focused on catching his breath and inhaling the Summer's wind. "It looks like I bought us some time, until he gets back. We need to find a way to get off this stupid ledge."

With there being barely enough room for them to properly walk, they'd be lucky if they could stay curled up against the side until weather conditions forces them to move and make their spot too slippery for them.

"Auh aah!" A call of a bird drew their attention, looking over to seeing a raven/crow-hybrid who was, somehow, able to get out of the area when Kirby got mutated and followed them from the shadows.

 _ **"Leo! April!"**_ Karasu cried out, hovering over the two teenagers, uncertain if she should perch on either of them when they don't seemed to be at a proper position that could distract them from staying safe on the ledge.

After hearing her voice, Leo slowly pushed himself to his feet. He held his left-arm, giving her a firm spot to perch on.

"Karasu." He whispered, forcing himself to lean against the wall. "Did the guys went back to the Lair? One for 'yes', two for 'no'."

She gently tapped his arm with her beak once, signaling the two teens that the others did get home.

"Did they made any attempts to follow us?"

She tapped his arm twice with her beak, telling them that they were wise to not make an attempt to follow. While they were right to not follow, unless April still has her T-Phone with her, the guys won't have any idea on how to find them.

_ And since they don't know about Kirby having some memories about his life as a human, they wouldn't think about checking their home or April's Aunt's House. _

It was very troubling.

"Did they at least take my gear with them?" Leonardo asked, hoping that they had enough common sense to pick up Musashi and Kamiizumi, and not have him find his missing weapons.

Karasu tapped once on his arm, relieving him from the troublesome thought of figuring out where his swords are.

_ How will you be able to make contact with the guys? _

_'…No idea. I can't write to them.'_  He turned to April. "Do you still have your T-Phone?"

She quickly dug into her pocket and, from her gasp, pulled out the turtleshell-like phone from her back-pocket.

"I still got it!" She cheered, earning a smile from the blue-masked turtle.

"Good.  _-He turned to Karasu.-_  I need you to head back to the Lair, Karasu. I don't want to run the risk of you crossing paths with Kirby, especially on what he's become. All right?"

The clever bird let out a few muffled chirps, before turning her back to her big brother and human-sister and, spreading her wings, took off towards the direction for home. When she was no longer in sight-range, Leonardo turned to the redheaded teen beside him.

"Get on my shell, April." He told her, turning his shell to her direction. "It would be easier for us to move, and I'll be able to get the both of us across if I must."

Not wanting to stay hanging on the edge and putting her T-Phone away, April did as he told her, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging her legs as close as she could over his shell.

_You sure you can do it? Without your Tegaki, scaling up the walls is going to be a_ _ challenge. _

_'Who says that I'm going climb up the walls?'_

Slowly, with his plastron against the wall, hugging the surface the best he could, moved to his left. April, hanging on tightly to her friend, made sure to not look down behind her or move a single muscle.

It took the humanoid-wolf/turtle nearly two minutes to move alongside the ledge before finding their path cut off, but wasted no time to scale up the emergency fire exit to the top of the roof. Once they were at the top, Leo got to his knees, signaling the girl to get off.

She was confused.

"Why are we stopping, Leo?" She asked, getting off in the process.

"So long as your father is still out there, we can't leave this area. If we did, he would go on a rampage and harm innocent citizens while searching for us. To make matters worse, he's a Vampire Bat."

April gave him an odd look.

"You're kidding. Right?" She asked, earning a blank look from the blue-masked turtle as her answer. "…You're actually serious?"

"There are actual bats called 'Vampire Bats', April. Because, like vampires, they find hosts and drink their blood for nutrients. And while it's very rare, I was told that they'll even drink blood from humans and some of those human succumb to death from the rabies the bats carried.  _-Her face went pale from the information, subconsciously placing both hands over her neck.-_  Whatever the reason to why he didn't drink our blood and is willingly caring for us, is still a big mystery. Until he's caught, we're gonna have to wait for a while. However, in the meantime, we can contact the others through your T-Phone."

Immediately, she pulled out her T-Phone and, without given any instructions on what to say, she sent a group text to Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo:

_**Guys! Where are you? Leo and I are all right. Dad took us to my house, and are now on top of the roof. Leo wants to know if you came up with a plan on how to get my dad.** _

In sixteen seconds, she gotten a response by Raph, Don and Mikey:

_**April! Thank God, you're okay! Tell Leo that I'm glad he's okay, since he left his T-Phone behind with his gear.- Don** _

_**Hey, April! Did U n Leo stopped 4 Pizza? Plz tell me u got Pizza!- Mikey** _

_**Ape! Good to hear you're both ok. Can U whack Leo for me, for giving us heart attacks when jumping out of the ship with the robotic King Kong body and leaving his weapons behind? Thx!- Raph** _

With both of them reading the message, Leo chuckled at the response they got from his brothers.

"April, tell them that now is not the time for nonsense chitchat and to tell us if they came up with a plan to catch your dad?"

The sixteen year-old did as he requested, typing away his message to the others in the group text... A minute later, she's gotten a reply.

_**We've asked Sensei for some advice on how to catch a stray pet. We didn't tell him about Kirby being turned, but he knows something is up and is asking where Leo is. We were able to get Leo's gear to his bedroom without Master Splinter noticing and told him that he's with you, April. He suggested on using food to lure your father to us. So, we're going to disguise Mikey as a fly and, when Mr. O'Neil's in close range, we'll trap him at the Patty Man's Meat Warehouse. We'll meet you guys there!- Don** _

After rereading the message three times, making sure he didn't miss what Donatello was telling them... Leonardo face-palmed himself, groaning.

"You've got to be kidding me," he grumbled.

April was confused by his reaction.

"What's wrong? Is there something wrong with their plan?" She asked, resting a hand on the arm that rested on his forehead.

He sent a tired glare at her direction.

"They're going to use Mikey, as  _bait_."

He response was very puzzling to the girl.

"Are you worried about Mikey?" While she, too, is concern for the orange-masked turtle's well being of being bait to draw her dad out, she didn't see what was troubling the blue-masked turtle.

"I know he can handle himself… It's what Raph and Don has decided to do, is the problem.  _-Her confused look told him she didn't get what was wrong, so he cut straight to the point.-_ They're making him wear a fly costume. He's going to use his imagination, and think he's now going to be a superhero… Meaning, he's going to be goofing off and pasteurize the guys with whatever catchphrase he'll use for his costume."

"…Well... It can't be that bad... Can it?" She asked, hoping that Michelangelo's childish antics won't be as bad as Leo makes it sound.

She received a text a minute later... She gotten her answer.

_**April, Leo, guess what? I'm no longer Michelangelo… I'm the great, the awesome turtle-fly hero: Turflytle! Buzz, Buzz! ;)- Mikey** _

The two stared at one another… Then,  _both_ , face-palmed themselves to the text.

* * *

 **Five Minutes Later…  
** The two hadn't gotten word since Mikey's text. No doubt, they already geared up and are in the air, looking for Kirby. With that in thought, and that Leo told them not to take their T-Phones when in the air, April put away her T-Phone.

as the two waited for any sign of the guys, a thought came to April's mind. she turned to the blue-masked turtle, who stood on the edge of the rooftop, looking at the sky.

"Hey, Leo?" Her question earned her a glance from the turtle. "Back at the rooftop, where you took off your gear and and laying on the ground, while my dad tower over you... What was that about? It was like how dogs interact with their owners."

Leonardo sent a smile at her direction, before he got off the ledge and came to her.

"I was trying to show your father that I'm not a threat and, in a way, to have him accept me as a member of his Colony."

"'Colony'?"

Leo nodded his head to get question.

"Much like rats, a group of bats is referred to as a colony. And such, they are very territorial and will attack whoever they see as a threat, especially to their young... Well, so long as they can take on the enemy, that is. And with your father mutated into a giant humanoid-bat, he could have easily killed me without any hesitation if he had seen me as a threat to you. So, rather than fight him, I chose to be worthy in his eyes as a member of his colony and that I pose no threat to either of you two."

His answer made sense to the girl, though there was one thing that still puzzled her.

"But what was with you rubbing against my dad's arm?"

Her question were starting to drain him, but is able to not reveal his frustration to her curiosity of his actions.

_**Clearly, Upsilon-Sister not very knowledgeable about the ways of Earth Young.** _

_'Obviously...'_ "Many animals are more accepting and calm when you carry the same scent as they do. I was merely increasing my chance of your dad to welcome me, by getting some of his scent onto me."

She can sense that he was getting a bit annoyed by her questions and that he answered what was bothering her, she let any other questions she had about animal behaviors get pushed in the back of her mind.

Seeing that she seem to grasp on to how he was interacting with her father, Leo and April went back to the ledge of the rooftop, scouting the sky for any signs of his brothers or Kirby.

* * *

 **Eleven Minutes Later...  
** "...Anything, yet?" April asked, not really having any fun on waiting on the rooftop while worrying for her friends encountering her father, who could either eat them, kill them or both.

Leonardo, also, wasn't too thrilled on having to wait. Even the birds he sent out to keep an eye out for his brothers haven't returned with any news at all. He was getting restless on having to wait.

"...Still nothing," he answered.  _'What's taking them so long? I told them that this was a life or death situation, that it can't be ignored or forgotten.'_

_ Do you really think it was a good idea to send out the pigeons to look for your brothers? There's a chance that Kirby could've encountered them and ate them. _

_'I gave them specific orders to fly below building level and to stay within the bright parts of the city, since the lights should prevent Kirby from reaching them. The mutagen may have enhanced his senses, but his eyes should have some sensitivity to bright lights.'_

_ Still, you should know how, at times, unreliable they could be for scouting. _

**_Truth. Rodent Flyers more usable as distractions, not locate or retrieval._ **

_'Perhaps... But they're also known for spreading words faster throughout the city. And when other birds and/or animals hear what they say, words will pass through the grapevine.'_

Not long after he thought that, a yowling from a cat from across the building caught his attention.

_**"Moon Scar!"** _

It was an American Shorthair cat, calling out from the perch of his home's window, though the feline was slightly panting as if he just got home from a massive run. Even at a far distance, Leo can see parts of his body puffed out and eyes dilated. The cat showed clear signs of distress.

_**"Your Kins are coming! They're bringing that creature near here! Get ready!"** _

The cat's words made Leo's adrenaline start to kick in, looking back up to the sky.

April felt Leo's demeanor instantly change, coming up beside him to see what he's seeing.

"Do you see them?" She asked, her hammering when thinking she would be seeing the other three turtles with her dad.

His eyes narrowed, looking hard at the dark-sky to see any signs of his three brothers and a large, humanoid-bat... His Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes caught a sight he was horrified to see: There, coming in from the east, Donatello riding on top of Kirby O'Neil, trying to stay on him, while Raphael and Michelangelo, wearing a pair of cardboard wings to look like wings from a fly and a pair of goggles looking like fly-eyes with a toy headband for antenna, staying close from above but at a far enough distance should Kirby try to make another attempt to get Mikey.

"Guys!" April called out, waving her arms out to get their attention. "We're over here!"

While she tries getting their attention, Leonardo looked up and saw what looks to be Donatello's Turtle Glider coming down towards them. With the rushing wind and fans still on, it didn't spiral out of control and made a beeline down to the two teenagers.

"Look out!" He cried out, pulling her back just before the glider made impact to the ground.

Surprisingly, the glider didn't break nor bend and the handlebar prevented the glider from slamming to the ground. It was still intact, and still usable to get into the air.

_You're not serious, are you?! He'll turn on you!_

_'It's a risk I'm gonna have to take.'_ Quickly, he hooked the Turtle Glider to himself, standing on the ledge and getting ready to fly.

"Wait, Leo!" April get to him and, to his surprise, hopped on to his shell.

Surprised, he let out a yelp.

"April, what-?"

"I'm not going to be left behind, when that's my dad up there!" She argued, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Besides, if I go with you, he should follow us to the Warehouse."

His eyes widened to her reason to go with them… And, quite frankly, he was very much amazed to her bravery and willingness to put herself in danger to help trap her dad.

_ You know there's no talking sense to her, once she has her mind set on something. _

_**Upsilon-Sister has right to be involved;** **Omicron-Uncle her Sire. He still** hers **... He still raise, provides for Upsilon-Sister. Omicron-Uncle will follow, for**_ **_welfare of own pup._ **

He let out a sigh of defeat, before grabbing for the handlebar.

"Hang on." With barely a second to make sure her hold on the fifteen year-old will stay firm, the blue-masked turtle jumped off the rooftop.

...And the two took off in the air, heading for the struggling bat trying to get Don off his back by biting at him.

Luckily for the purple-masked turtle, he used his Naginata Bō staff to get into Kirby's mouth and continued to get control of the humanoid-bat by using his weapon as reign to steer Kirby towards the direction of the Warehouse.

From above, Raphael and Michelangelo tossed out their own grappling hooks to Kirby's wings, restricting him from going anywhere but to the direction they want him to go to... Only to realize that, because of his enhanced strength, the two ended up being pulled down and slammed into each other. In the process, Raphael's Turtle Glider unhooked itself from the massive force one of Kirby's wing used to pull him out of the straps.

As for Michelangelo, because of his cardboard wings for taking up room on his shell and being much heavy for his own Turtle Glider to fit or lift, was only able to detach himself from the rope connecting him to Raph and glide for a short moment of time until his weight would've pulled him back to the ground if he didn't use his grappling hook to grab Kirby.

On Kirby's left, Raphael ended up ramming against a brick wall of a few apartment buildings, followed by a cat that was sleeping on a fire escape ladder, which was able to avoid getting spooked up annoying out of yowl when seeing the giant humanoid-bat. To his right, Michelangelo slammed against a billboard and almost hit a chimney.

From above them, Leonardo and April quickly caught up to them. well in the air, Leo was able to guide her hands to grab hold of the handlebar, making it easier for her to stay on.

"Are you ready for this, April?" The humanoid-wolf/turtle asked the sixteen year-old girl, keeping his eyes completely on the struggling humanoid-bat.

"No... But, we need to do this." she answered honestly, gripping tightly to the handlebar, readying herself for whatever Leo is going to do.

Gaining permission to go on with this plan, Leonardo thrust down, basically dive-bombing towards Kirby, and slamming against his right-side.

"Aaugh! Aawh, aaaah!" He attempted to make similar calls that Kirby made, which surprisingly sounded almost exactly like the cries her father makes, excluding the continuous screeching and adding in some clicking sounds in the process. Nevertheless, Leo's imitation of Kirby's call caught the humanoid-bat's attention.

"Come on, Dad! This way!" April called out, motioning him to follow when he saw the both of them flying straight to a direction.

_***Scrreeeech!* *Scrrrrreeeeech!*** _

Kirby immediately pushed himself to follow the two, letting out cries of distress and making grabbing motions with both hands in an attempt to get the two pups.

If Don, Raph and Mikey weren't having enough trouble to control him, they were having much more difficulty on holding on, as the concern mutant father pushed himself to follow their brother and human-friend. Not realizing he's being lead to a trap, waiting for him.

After twenty seconds of flying, avoiding the attempted capture of the humanoid-bat and continuous cries of surprise, pain and some panic, they can all see the rooftop to Patty Man's Meat Warehouse coming in.

_ Alright. You made it. But how are you going to get him inside? _

That, Leonardo already knew what he has to do. He sent a glance to April.

"April, brace yourself!" He yelled, giving her little time to realize what he's going to do, before dive-bombing down straight through the glass.

As he expected to happen, Kirby dived down after them. A few shards of glass dug into his arms, but not too deep that he would require stitching and none reached the girl, thanks to the wings of the Turtle Glider and Leo's body shielding her from all sides... What he didn't count on, when they neared the ground, Kirby was finally able to make a grab for the two, wrapping them within the fold of his winged hands and his own arms, before hitting the ground and skidding to the back of the warehouse.

…Surprisingly, they stopped underneath the cage.

As Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo immediately picked themselves off the ground, in his haste on trying to capture him, Mikey went for the lever to have the cage brought down.

Thanks to his hearing picking up the sound of rope scratching and looking up to see a giant cage coming down on them... Kirby O'Neil threw his daughter and pseudo-nephew away from him, sparing them from being caged before the cage trapped him in his spot. Though, while relieved that he saved two of his pups from this fate, even those thoughts weren't enough to calm him when pounding at the cage with his winged hands.

After Leo helped her to her feet, April immediately went to her father.

"Dad!  _-She leaned in front of his direction, gazing down at his scared and distressed face, as shock and disbelief ran through her thought.-_ Dad." Reaching through the bars, she laid her right-hand onto his forehead.

In response, he made a low, chittering sound. He calmed down, for the time being, though was very nervous and anxious within the cage that kept him trapped.

Coming to her side, Leonardo rested his left-hand beside her head, earning the same treatment the girl gained.

"We're sorry, Kirby." He whispered, showing great despair on having to trap his pseudo-uncle by using his paternal instinct against him.

When her father finally calmed down, April got to her feet and turned to the guys.

"What are we gonna do with him? I mean, keep him caged forever? Feed him a steady diet of mice and flies?"

"Actually, bats love moths and spiders too, so…" Donatello, having to bring up his knowledge, didn't help make the situation any better. Beside him, Raphael jabbed his elbow against his plastron. "Sorry…"

Rather she heard him and is taking it much harder, or just ignored what he just said, April didn't seem to take his word to heart. Too trapped in her grief of her father ended up being mutated into a humanoid-bat.

"This is all my fault. If I hadn't lied to Dad…"

Leonardo knew that he couldn't let her think that. Not when he had a part in it. He got to his feet, turning to her.

"No, April. It's not your fault. It's mine.  _-He earned a stunned glance at the girl, along with some_ _surprised looks from his brothers.-_ If I hadn't suggested on involving your dad, he wouldn't had been turned… There's no one to blame, but me."

Tears formed in her eyes, not believing what her friend, her  _brother_ , is telling her. She didn't say anything, as she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face into his neck. In response, he returned the embrace, trying to offer her as much comfort that he could.

Coming up to her left, Mikey laid a hand on her back.

"Leo's right, April." He said, gaining her attention but still remained in his embrace. "Don't blame yourself. It was our fault. We spilled the mutagen. We'll fix it."

His sentence made the guilt from Leo's being fade away, replacing it with confusion... And a rising feeling of rage.

_'…What did he just say?'_

_What did he mean they spilled the mutagen?!_

**_…Kins... Had role to Omicron-Uncle's transformation?_ **

"What? You guys... You guys spilled the mutagen?!" April asked, not believing what she just heard.

From behind her and Leo, Raph and Don silently sent hand signals for Mikey to not tell her. Sadly, the youngest-turtle isn't well good at reading signals when he has to.

"Yeah. We accidentally unleashed all that mutagen all over the city, but don't worry. We'll get it back."

The anger within Leo rose almost instantly from what he just learned from the orange-masked turtle.

"You… You…"

In disbelief, April pushed back from Mikey's touch. Unintentionally, in the process, ended up being released from Leo's hug.

Just as much as she was getting angry, Leonardo also showed signs of great anger towards his brothers.

"You three let  _all_ the mutagen fall out?!  _-He turned his angry glare at Donatello, he flinched from the burning rage held within his brother's Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes.-_ Don! I told you to close that door, to  _ **prevent**_ this sort of disaster from happening! Why did you ignore my orders?!"

From behind him and April, Kirby, sensing the two teenagers getting angry, also started to get angry and let out a screech at the three teens for causing such distress to his two pups.

"I'm sorry, Leo! I-!  _-Cutting himself off, without bothering to giving any explanation for his decision to not closing the door, he turned to a very distraught April.-_ April. I swear by Darwin's beard, we'll cure him."

His word meant nothing to the girl. She couldn't believe what she found out, grasping both her hands to her chest... Before exploding at the three turtles.

"You mutated my father!"

To her anger, Kirby let out another terrifying shriek of anger.

_***SCRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEECH!*** _

In the state of his anger, his adrenaline kicked in. His winged hands grabbed a hold of the roofing of the cage and, with sheer strength, pulled the bars apart. With the gap big enough for him to get out, he immediately took to the air.

Now freed, he made a few attempts to swat at the three enemies with his claws. When that didn't work, his eyes locked on to April and reached for her with his feet.

Taking resident next to one of the support beams, Leonardo watches the event play on… Then, watch as Donatello pull out Gonnosuke.

"Don! Don't!" His cry fell on deaf ears and the Bō wielding turtle smack Kirby O'Neil away from his daughter. Feeling great pain from the attack and too exhausted to keep fighting, despite his desperation to grab the two pups, Kirby was left with no choice but to escape the Warehouse.

"Dad!" April cried out, watching as her mutated father leaves her... For the second time.

Once the crisis was over, Donatello went behind her. Attempting to rest a hand on her shoulder.

"April-"

Barely laying a hand on her, April went ballistic.

"Don't!" She yelled, swatting his hand away from her. "Don't touch me! You keep away from me!  _-Her eyes glared at the three turtles who caused her father's mutation to happen, while sending a side glance at Leo's way, though her gaze didn't show any disgust or hatred towards him.-_ I never wanna see your faces, ever again!"

With that being said, she made a mad dash out of the warehouse.

"April!" Donnie called out, making an attempt to run after her, only to be stopped by Raphael.

"Let her go, man." The red-masked turtle told him, knowing his brother would only make things worse if he went after her.

"But-!"

"No, Don!" Leo snarled at him, cutting him off. "You've done enough damage, for one night! Leave her be!"

As his leader ordered him to do, Donatello didn't go off after the redheaded girl.

While feeling his twin has every right to be angry at them, Raph tried to explain himself.

"It really was an accident, Leo. We-"

"Save it, Raph!"

The humanoid-wolf/turtle didn't want to hear it. Not now. Not when his brothers' actions not only turned Kirby into a humanoid-bat, but also spread the mutagen over a certain part of the city.

_'I can't believe they would be_ _irresponsible, as to let this happen!'_

**_Kins' mistakes, will cause great consequences... Kins can't be forgiven... Not till all mutagen are collected, and away from All-Life!_ **

_ …No excuses... They have to learn... _

"…Come! We're going home… Now!  _-_ _Without a single word, the three started making their way out of the warehouse.-_  And when we get home, you three are going to tell Sensei what happened!"

The three weren't looking forward to that... But they knew that they would have to face the music, sooner or later.

* * *

 **At the Lair…  
** As Donatello finished telling Splinter what has happened, the humanoid-rat's face was riddled with great sorrow.

"This is all very grave news. Very grave, indeed."

His eyes held such sadness on what had happened to April's father; he enjoyed interacting with another human, after so many years being isolated within the sewers. And having to get to know Kirby O'Neil, Splinter found a form a kinship with the human-father... Something that was taken and destroyed, when Oroku Saki trampled their brotherhood and killed Tang Shen.

"I can't believe this is happening. Poor April."

From behind the guys, leaning against the wall next to the turnstiles, Leonardo kept his glare on his three brothers.

_'Feeling sorry won't fix what you've done, Donnie.'_

On his left-shoulder, Karasu sent a glare of her own to her three older-brothers. After hearing what the guys had done and learning that April won't be coming down to the Lair anymore, she, too, wasn't in such a forgiving mood.

"Do not dwell on the past.  _-While his words seemed calm and comforting, his face showed great worry for the surface world.-_ Right now, you must focus on finding every last canister of mutagen. You must search every street, every park and playground, every building and rooftop, before we have even more mutants on our hands."

While he was giving them an order on what they must do, Leonardo's T-Phone vibrated. Pulling it out, the blue-masked turtle turn on the screen.

…His eyes widened at what popped up on his phone.

* * *

_*Knock knock knock*_

He didn't have to wait for five seconds, before the window opened up. There, with bloodshot eyes and tearstained face, April O'Neil stood before the turtle and raven/crow-hybrid. After allowing him a moment to come into her bedroom, she threw herself onto him, sobbing into his shoulder.

Leo didn't say anything, as he once again embraced her. On his shoulder, Karasu let out chirps of distress on witnessing how distressed the human-girl was.

As the sixteen year-old continued to cry, the black-bird walked down Leo's left-shoulder and got onto April's, nuzzling her head against the girl's cheek, offering her as much comfort as she could to the human.

When her crying continued on for over seven minutes, Leonardo gently urged her to sit down and rest her back against her bed, going down with her when she refuses to let him go. And he had no intention on releasing her, not in her hour of need.

He laid his head on top of hers, gently rubbing her back.

"I know it doesn't mean much and it won't bring him back… I'm really sorry about your dad, April." He whispered, slowly rocking her back and forth.

The crying continued on going for quite some time, but eventually, it went down to sniffling.

_*Sniffle sniff*_

In over a minute, she quieted down. She remained still in his embrace, resting her cheek on his plastron, as Karasu stayed still on her left-shoulder.

"…It's not your fault." She whispered, her voice cracked from her crying.

Leo was stunned to hear what she just said.

"April-"

"No.  _-She raised her head to stare up at him, a serious look held in her sky-blue eyes.-_   ** _You_**  weren't there when  _they_  let the mutagen fall into the city. You were falling out of the ship, fighting that robotic gorilla-body. You  _told_  Donnie to shut the door, which he didn't do…!"

Tears started to pick up, again. Karasu gently ran her beak against her cheek, wiping them away for her, as Leo sat them up.

"April, breathe." He coaxed, making her follow his deep inhalation and then exhaling to help get her to calm down. "I know this is still very upsetting, but you'll make yourself sick if this keeps up. You need to calm down."

She did as she was instructed to do, following his example of breathing, as her racing heart slowly but steadily went back to it's normal paste. After two minutes of breathing, she finally calmed down. Soon, she realized how much of a headache she had from crying and tired she was feeling.

But still, after all that, she still wanted Leo to hear what she has to say.

"You didn't cause the mutagen to spill, Leo... You weren't of any part of it, at all.  _-She leaned back into his hold, feeling safe and content within the hold of the one she still views as her brother-_ You're my only friend, now."

Unknowingly to the girl, Leonardo's eyes widened to her words. The  _exact_  words he heard from in his vision... He finally understood what the vision was trying to warn him.

And because of the carelessness of his brothers and their action, they ended up losing their losing Kirby O'Neil to the mutation… And, their  _sister_.

TBC

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep. First chapter to the Second Season, not very happy or heartwarming, like in the show.
> 
> *: For a Peach Tree, it sure didn't follow true to it's name for it's lack of 'peaches'. It looks more like a giant bonsai tree.
> 
> *:…Okay. When I saw that… It's was, somewhat, disturbing. Even a bit inappropriate, in my opinion, that weapons would come out from the Biotroid's nipples... Did anybody else thought that, too? Seriously, what were the makers of the show, thinking?!
> 
> *:…I'm positively certain, that they got this idea from Astro Boy.
> 
> *: The Omicron is usually the lead Pi and oversee to it that each one is taking care of the rest of the packs problems in a way that won't harm anyone. They are those who with permission from the Alpha may choose who will become a Pi. (Top Therapist)
> 
> I went to an Anime-Con in Fresno on Saint Patricks Day… It. Was. AWESOME! I'm hoping to go to the DBZ and Heroes Con on May 11th, since my experience at my first Convention at Anime-Con was amazing.
> 
> R&R


	21. What to do, as Leader?

**August Twenty Second...  
** _An entire week went by, since the great disaster... A great and terrible error, my own brothers caused to happen._

_According to what Don claimed to had estimated, excluding the one that turned Kirby into a humanoid-bat, there are sixty-five canisters of mutagen spread all over the eastern parts of the city, some probably moved to the northern side. He made another device that'll pick up traces of mutagen, but the sensory is too weak and, to his knowledge, will be giving off multiple response until he can upgrade it to scout farther distance and work from underground, instead of giving off random response every direction we go._

_If that wasn't bad enough... Master Splinter's concern about encountering other mutants... It happened._

_Two days ago, while we were out searching for the mutagen, with Don having us making unexpected turns from how many traces of mutagen are in our area, we found ourselves at one of the abandoned movie theatre that went out of business. There, we found a homeless man,_ _cowering in the back corner... By a squirrel... That **ingested**  mutagen. After forcing it's way into the human's mouth and resting in his stomach, we took him to our Lair to see what's going on._

_While doing that, Mikey had been hooked up with some comic book since we left that night to continue our mutagen hunt... And from what he keeps trying to show and/or tell us, the event unfolding before us, is exactly like how the story in his book. I'm not into the stories he, Raph or Don would read, but something in my gut told me that his book may hold the key to helping us our little squirrel problem._

_Not long after we learnt that the human had two squirrels in his stomach, he vomited them out and went on the attack. Raph made sure to see our 'guest' out from our home, while the rest of us went on the hunt... The hard part: Was trying to catch one of them, while Sensei was meditating. I was able to grab it before the furry rodent lands on top of him, but then the annoying creature let out a shriek and disturbed Sensei from his meditation._

_Right after I explained to him that this cretin is a mutant that reproduces in another being's stomach, it bit me and, to my shock ran straight into my mouth to enter my stomach. I wouldn't had mind eating the creature like any other squirrels I did at Northampton, but I could not allow it to use me to continue it's disgusting genes, especially that it's a mutant. Luckily, it didn't stay in my stomach for very long. Immediately after I felt it hit my stomach, I was already forcing myself to hack it up until, after fifteen seconds, it came out._

_Unfortunately, Raphael wasn't as fortunate as I was, when the second squirrel went into his stomach. And just like the homeless man, when Raph puked them out, two more squirrels came out… However, without warning, the three started glowing and apparently, went through a disturbing transformation. Even if it were five against three, and sending in a Kraang-based robot, those three squirrels proved to be too much for us to keep up._

_…However, mutated or not, they're still squirrels. And what are squirrels known for: Small brains, and their undesirable love for peanuts. Victory that day, clearly went to Mikey. After distracting them with a bag of popcorn, leading them out of the Lair and to the sewers, we were able to sent them out of the area and to a septic tank._

_While we were all excited of the great defeat of the mutated squirrels, Mikey informed us of his newest edition for his last comic... Meaning, in his mind, and to part of our own, that wouldn't be the last time we'll be crossing path with the squirrels. I already_ _had Karasu to head off to the surface world and spread the words about the squirrels, while they keep their eyes out for the canisters. If they're found, I'll find them and, one by one, kill them._

_The night I went to April's, I went to the park and called for an important meeting with all the animals who live there. There, I revealed my ability to change between my humanoid-turtle form and my wolf-form. I informed them of my brothers' neglect while fighting with Kraang and that the shining light that fell from the sky are dangerous, which needed to be kept away from humans, animals and any other living organisms._

_So far, not including the one we found at the movie theaters, we didn't find a single canister. Most of the animals took heed of my words and, should they find the canister, will pass the word on to the birds and, hopefully, I'll catch wind of it. I even inform them that, should I not be there when they give word of finding them, I told them, without making any contact with the liquid inside the canister, to hide them and keep safe until my brothers and/or myself find them._

_No doubt, the squirrel that ingested the mutagen didn't heed my warnings when the birds delivered an emergency distress call on what I told them about the canisters and assumed it was some form of food, thanks to its small intellectual brain. It's thanks to the squirrel's own idiotic mind that they cause damage, even accidental fires, amongst the city, even the trees that they live in._

_If the mutagen can turn an idiotic, harmless squirrel into a killing machine, then there's no telling what else it may cause to another being... Just like how it turned Kirby into a large humanoid-bat._

_I know April told me that what happened to her father wasn't my fault, but as leader, I have to be held responsible for any casualties that would happen amongst the team or even our friends and family._

_And that is something they will never learn to grasp: When your leader, everything, and I mean **everything** , is your fault. Even if it's out of your control, you, and you alone, are responsible for what happens._

_Still, she won't have me be responsible for her father's mutation and is still convinced that my brothers are to blame. Since that night, April basically cut off all contact with them: No messages, coming to the Lair to visit, or even to drop off food._

_She told me that she's going to continue her life as if nothing had happened... Despite that pretending all those months of dealing with mutants, Kraang and Foot ninjas, won't help deal with the fact that her father isn't with her anymore. She was able to convince her aunt that Kirby went out on some business trip and won't be back for a while, so she'll have plenty of time to avoid the obvious question before her aunt gets wise to ask her._

_And since she made it clear that she won't be coming over to the Lair, I've discussed some things that she has to accept and follow: First off, because she still wants me to see her and to continue her training as a Kunoichi, I can only come over a few times a week or two. If the guys were to find out that I'm seeing her, they would be a bit upset that she prefers to see me... Not only that, but Donnie would ignore my orders to leave her alone and go see her, wanting her to at least let him stay in contact with her._

_The second part, is for her to not go out at night. Even if I were to send her some recording through the T-Phones for her to train on, I'm still not as skilled as Master Splinter and without his teachings, her training will falter some. Not only that, but with us giving her space, she'll be left unprotected if she runs into Kraang. Because of those reasons, for her sake, she must do as little activity in the night as she could. Since they've never seem to make an attempt to grab her when at her Aunt's and, so far, didn't try to grab her and Kirby when at home, should mean she'll still be safe in her own home... For the time being._

_I've also decided, so she doesn't get too lonely while staying away from us... For most of the days, Karasu shall stay with her._

_Both April and Karasu were surprised by my suggestion on having Kara stay with her, but neither seemed to object to my offer; Karasu can fly over to the Lair whenever she wants to, and April showed to enjoy spending time bonding with Kara. Plus, it'll give Karasu the chance to go out and properly explore the city in the day, and longer at night._

_So far, Karasu would come over to the Lair for only a few hours whenever April is sleeping or at school, but would make sure to be there when April is_ _available. During the time she's back, Kara would tell me what she's learned from the birds during the day and the wonders she didn't take notice in the day, when she focused on looking for me after the Invasion._

_I even told April, in case Donatello does try to go and see her, to delete all of our text messages… Which, also, brings me to an important conversation with her:_

_She'd known, for as long as she has known us since entering our lives, that Don has a crush on her... And she isn't too thrilled about that, especially since she views him as a brother and always feel awkward whenever he let his feelings for her slip. She even found out about his chart on how to win her over, and it very much disturbed her to a high level, which is why she immediately refused his offer to help her train to become a Kunoichi. Thank God he burnt that board up till it was nothing but ash._

_After telling me how much she wants him to stop, and informing me of her worst fear of the_ _possibility of him building a shrine of her in his room (Thank God, he doesn't!), I told her what she has to do:…TELL HIM SHE'S **NOT INTERESTED** IN HIM!_

_I mean, seriously, she knows that she has to do it, and to do it sooner, rather than later. Each time I see her make any physical contact with him, whether it was a hand on his shoulder or a short hug, he tries to keep her beside him or at least make an attempt to hold her hand. Every compliment she makes about his inventions or thanking him for helping her with her schoolwork, he takes her words by heart and looks as if he got loves trucked, as if she just told him 'I love you'._

_It sickens me of my brother's_ _infatuation to a girl who doesn't return the same feelings he has for her and seems to be pushing his game up to tell her his "Undying Love" for her, that makes April very uncomfortable._

_April informed me that she wants to, especially now that he's part of the reason why her father's been mutated… But, at the same time, she felt like she can't._ _She explained that it wasn't that she felt any change of feelings towards him, far from it… It's because she's ' **hoping** ' he'll come to term that his feelings for her is nothing more than a simple crush and, eventually, move on._

_...Like that's going to work!_ _I told her that her plan is poorly thought out and, when Don is obsessed with something, he won't let it go so easily and doesn't see any of the signs on how wrong he is. Not until somebody holds up a mirror to him, and forces him to see fact from fiction. And that the longer she stalls, the more he'll believe he's getting close to having her as his intended mate._

_She promised me, when the right time comes, she'll tell Donnie how she feels and wants to remain as friends. If Don refuses to accept that and still tries to win her over, despite being let down, I'll have to intervene… Perhaps, even involve Sensei to make him see the horrible truth that'll befallen onto him if he keeps making April uncomfortable._

_…But that's not even the last of my problems._

_…I haven't heard much from Miwa, lately. Let alone, seen her since I got back from Northampton._

_When I got back and pulled out my T-Phone, I found massive text messages from her. Most of them asking where I am, wondering why I'm not returning any of her text... And other times, telling me how her days been._

_Immediately, I informed her of my absence since the Invasion. How I nearly drowned and, 'somehow', ended up in Northampton for over a month, struggling to survive and recovering from my injured ribs, until finally finding myself back in the city and being unconscious for days._

_She was upset that I didn't tell her, on the day of the Invasion, that my brothers and I would be fighting the Kraang. Also, for making her worried for over a month and not taking my T-Phone with me during battle, despite knowing that I could've end up losing it during the fight… But, in the end, she was just happy to know that I'm all right and made it back._

_That was the last time I heard from her and since then, I grew worry for my half-sister._

_I'd hoped to run into her and catch up from the time we were separated… Especially, now that Master Splinter and my brothers are finally, **FINALLY** , allowing me to go on my own in the city... So long I return to the Lair before dawn and tell one of them I'll be heading out, when not doing our night patrol._

_Since they found me in the sewers and nursed me back to health, they're convinced that I won't run away and, believing my word to being the truth on how I tried to get back the moment I was well enough to move, they've decided to allow me my rights to come and go, unsupervised and with no worries._

_It's very good news for me; that means, I'm one step closer to reaching my freedom… But, at the same time, I'll be treading on thin ice. If I were to not return by the time it's dawn, unless my delay is caused by the enemy, I knew they'll_ _immediately have me back under observation._

_Anyways... I worried that if Shredder and the Kraang are truly allying themselves against us, I fear for my sister's safety. I know she can take care of herself... My biggest concern is if Oroku Saki, himself, was the buyer to the canisters of mutagen and is still planning to make his own army of mutants to fight under his banner, since the incident with Timothy._

_Even if he raised her as his own, I knew he would even use Miwa as a pawn in his sick game, just like his followers of the Foot Clan… Even, to go as far as to mutate her. And if that were to happen, I'll never forgive myself for not being there for my sister in her time of need._

_Sadly, until we've found and collected **all**  of the mutagen that's been scattered in the city, I can't go out searching for her._

* * *

**Near 47th Street…  
** "Come on, Donnie. Don't get so bent out of shape about April. She'll come around."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

While trying to cheer him up, Leonardo sent a warning glare to his twin.

_'It's one thing to try and comfort Don, while in such low spirit. But, to make such high hopes and promise that he, directly at him, will see her, again, that's a big problem.'_

_Raph's been trying to be supported for Don, since you tracked Don to save Kirby from the Kraang in June. He even tried to make Don sound amazing when fighting that Salamander creature, when that's not even accurate... Did he had a change of heart about Don's attempt to get together with April?_

Leo growled lowly at that thought, continuing to dig through the trash and some of the boxes, not bothering to sniff out the mutagen.

_'No. He still finds it amusing and hilarious of our brother's attempt to still court her. Besides, April found it very unlikely that Don, alone, took on the creature... There was something off about that creature… I don't think it's a mutant.'_

_What makes you say that?_

**_Language. Tongue. Not Earth-Young._ **

_'Right. Not only that, but it didn't seem to understand me, when I let out a few warning growls to not attack and that we're not with the enemy... It must be an alien. Which means, we need to stay clear from that creature.'_

"No sign of any mutagen, but you're not gonna believe what I found!" From within the dumpster, Michelangelo pulled out... An iguana,  _stitched_  up underneath it's belly, while wearing a hat. "An iguana wearing a top hat. Isn't that cool?"

Leonardo felt sick to his stomach.

_'How and why would he think **that**  is cool?! Does he not know that that  **was**  a living Iguana?!'_

"I mean, why would you throw this out? ' _Ello, gov'nor. How do you like my mon-acle_?"

" _Monocle_." Donatello corrected, not really as disturbed as Raphael and Leo were.

"Whatever."

Not wanting to see his brother playing with that not-so innocent toy, along with seeing the distress look on his older-twin's face, Raph immediately went to the rescue.

"You realize that could be a distant cousin? And he's stuffed with sawdust."

Instantly realizing what he's holding in his hand, Mikey tossed it away.

"Eww, sick."

"Quiet, guys. My ooze scanner is going crazy again."

At the right-side of the alleyway, his tracker let out a fast beeping tempo, indicating that they were getting closer. A perfect distraction to forget about the iguana, a major relief to the blue-masked turtle. Coming in beside, he stared down at the screen, seeing a small-red dot blinking at the top-half of the screen.

"I told you a mutagen was close-by."

"You're scanner's about as useless as a trench coat on a turtle." The red-masked turtle replied, not trusting the small-device since it would give off random direction to where the canisters would be at.

Leonardo turned to his twin, glaring him down.

"Give him a chance, Raph." He ordered. "It's our fault those containers went missing. We got to find 'em before some random Joe ends up mutated."

It took him a while to figure out where the location of the mutagen was at, until he realized how small the dot was from their location and signal Don was able to get. He immediately figured out where the scanner was telling them to go.

_'It's on the rooftop!'_

As the first to recognize the location, Leonardo scaled up the emergency fire escape ladder, getting up to the roof and leaping over the gap between two buildings in front of him.

…There, hiding in the cornered shadow of the rooftop's ventilator, a canister of mutagen laid.

 _'Never thought I'd be happy to see mutagen, until now.'_ He thought, reaching down to grab for the canister.

_Is it leaking?_

A few sniffing in the air, told the Leo that the canister is safe to pick up and he did. His brothers finally caught up, happy to see their big brother had found the mutagen.

"Found it!" Michelangelo cheered, before turning to Don. "How many does that bring us up to?"

"One, and a half." The purple masked turtle answered, which brought the mood down for Raph and Mikey. "But look at the bright side: Only Sixty-three more to go."

The two turtles just sent him a glancing glare, not actually seeing anything bright about that information at all.

The blue mask turtle, not allowing Don's terrible attempt to see anything positive of the information, didn't allow the dark mood to weaken his determination.

"Come on, guys. Let's get this canister back to Don's Lab, and continue our search."

As Leonardo handed the canister over to Don and the three already started making their way to a manhole cover, something in the air caught his attention. He barely had to take even a slight sniff, when he immediately recognized but the scent was.

 _'It can't be...'_ He immediately scoped out their surrounding, searching for the one who possessed the sent that he hadn't smelled in over a month.

...There, in the shadows half a mile from the building they're standing on, is none other than his long-lost half-sister: Miwa.

_'_ **Shisutā!** _'_

His heart leapt in joy when he saw the sixteen year-old, crouched low and eyeing him and his brothers. He wanted nothing more then to run and leap over the buildings, and embrace her... However, something was very off, especially since she seemed to focus her attention on his brothers, who are all back to the ground of the city and walking to a manhole cover.

...More specifically, the canister of mutagen that Donatello held in his hands.

His joy swiftly changed to confusion and, in some part of him, worry and concern.

_'Is she here to find, and collect the mutagen that was lost to her master?'_

_If she was going to do that, wouldn't she had jumped in earlier and fight you guys to take it? Instead, she's just remaining still, watching your brothers taking it away._

His Conscience did brought up a good point, especially since the girl likes to wound up  _their_  younger brothers to fight and amuse her.

_**Possibly on patrol for Pups and Kins, from Enemy?** _

That was something to take to consideration. But still, she would've ignored Shredder's orders if he told her to not engage combat with them and, again, come out of hiding to get them worked up and fight her.

_ …She still harbors anger to the guys, since their attempt to attack Shredder in June... Could she be plotting an attack, to get back at them? _

…That, Leo believe to be very likely to be going on... And sadly, he can't go up there and convince her out of her decision to get even with the guys.

Well, he could try and talk her out of it. But if there's one thing he learned about the Kunoichi, is how she can hold a grudge for so long and won't let go the hatred she harbors for the person responsible that dare hurt her in anyway that meant something to her.

And since his brothers tried to make an attack on Shredder, when their main concern was taking out the stealth ship and getting the missile launcher from Karai, they made the top list of her 'Get Revenge On' List.

"Hey, Leo!" Michelangelo called out, seeing his brother remaining on the rooftop. "Come on, Bro! Let's get going!"

Mentioning the blue-masked turtle's nickname, Karai turned her attention from the youngest-turtle entering the sewers to where the orange-masked turtle was staring at, seeing Leonardo on the rooftop... Staring  _right_  at her.

Even from a far distance, the two stare at each other. None of them were certain on what to do, nor know what the other would do, now that her cover is blown by the blue-masked turtle.

Many thoughts and emotions ran through their minds: Happiness and joy to finally see each other after so long, worry that they're in a somewhat awkward situation, fear that the other turtles would find out that they're being watched by the Kunoichi... And confusion, on why Leo hadn't informed his brothers about Karai watching them or what the other person would do.

_It's your call. What are you going to do?_

It was a very complicated position he's in. As leader, he should warn his brothers that they're being watched and would probably put up a fight against the sixteen year-old until using a smoke-bomb to make a clean gateway for the sewers… However, as a friend, an only ally to the girl... But most of all, her self-proclaimed  _ **Ani**_ , he wouldn't utter a word about her presence to  _their_  brothers and would let her go, with no attempt to stop her with whatever plan that comes to mind on what she's going to do.

…He was really in a tight spot… And didn't really have much of an option.

**_Pup certain of choice?_ **

Leonardo, rather than make any response to his Instinct's question, only sent the girl a firm nod and, without a second glance, made his way to follow his brothers to the sewers.

_'Whether the decision I just made is to be the correct choice or not, the guys can't now that she's here, right now. When the time comes for us to cross paths with her, it'll be up to her to decide how the price for betraying her will be... And whatever that prices, I must make sure that she doesn't succeed and make her see reason to leave **our** brothers alone.'_

* * *

**A Few Hours Later; Nearby Chinatown…  
** "We've been looking for mutagen for days now, dudes. This is so boring. I'm gonna scream." Hanging upside down on a support beam to a water tower, Michelangelo let out a long, lazy scream that could be compared to nails on a chalkboard.

"Mikey!" The three big brothers yelled in unison, shutting him up from his promise on what he would do.

_If this keeps up, they'll want to stop looking and, if you refuse to let them rest or do something else, will ignore your orders and go home._

_'Right...'_ "Okay, okay, we get it. We'll take a little break and do something fun. All right?"

All three cheered to his suggestion.

"Sweet."

"Whoo-hoo-hoo!"

"Awesome."

_**Pup allow Kins to play? What of training? Alpha instruct Pup to train Kins.** _

_'I know… That's why I'm going to do something that'll make them do so.'_ "Training session."

To his suggestion on what to do, all three immediately started complaining.

"Aww."

Leo had to hold back a chuckle to their sudden sour mood.

"Sorry, guys, but Sensei wants me to train you and that's what I'm gonna do, since I've heard the lack of training you've done for most of July... But I'll tell you what. I'll make you three a deal  _-While they didn't look thrilled, they turned to look at him,_ _signaling that they're listening.-_ You see Dragon Gate over there?"

"Uh-huh."

"Yeah."

He smirked at them.

"I'm gonna defend it, like King of the Mountain, okay? The only way you can get past me, is to use traditional close-quarters fighting. Got it?  _-They didn't look happy to what he told them, which he expected. So, he knew how to get them motivated.-_ If you guys can get to the other side, we'll call it a night and you can go do whatever you want. If you can't, what I say goes. Which means, if I say we continue looking for the mutagen, we continue our search for the mutagen until near dawn. Deal?"

The three younger-brothers turn to each other. While they don't want to take any part of the training session, the promise to let them call off the search early and do whatever that want was very tempting. Plus, when Leo makes a promise, he  _always_  keeps his promise.

Together the three nodded their heads to each other.

"Deal." Raphael answered.

Accepting their response, Leonardo leapt down to the wires that held the many paper lamps and went to the Dragon Gate that shows the entry for Chinatown.

_You know they're going to cheat, right? They won't honor your rules to fight how you told them to fight._

_'I know that... That's why I'm going to let them do so, just to show them what happens when they refuse to obey their Zeta's* orders.'_

When he no longer heard they're whispering, most likely discussing on how to get across the Dragon Gate, Leo decided to bring out Kamiizumi. He then started walking on the middle of the line holding the paper lamp, stopping at the center and awaiting for which of his brothers will challenge him first.

The first to go first, non surprisingly, is Michelangelo... And, rather than hide it, he pulled out his T-phone and put it against his left-thigh, putting in earphones against their ears.

Leonardo chuckled low.

 _'Of course, he would choose to dance... Very well, then. I'll play at his level.'_ He put away his sword, surprising Raphael and Donatello, and simply folded his arms over his plastron. "Whenever you're ready, little-brother."

Michelangelo pressed the play button on his T-Phone and, just as Leo had expected to happen, started dances on the lines.

"What's up, ninjas?!" Mikey called out, whooping and going along with the beat of the music.

Thanks to his sharp hearing, he's able to hear the music and started nodding his head to the music. He isn't a big fan of the song, but is willing to move along with the beat like his brother. He then stuck his tongue out, blowing raspberry, before flipping in the air and landing on his shell, spinning.

Leo took notice that, while listening and dancing to the music, his brother would have his eyes closed when getting into the beat.

_He truly gets himself lost, when it comes to music. But, in battle, he has to remain focus._

**_Meaning, Chi*-Brother Michelangelo must open eyes, to strike or dodge. What will_ ** **_Chi*-Brother_ ** **_react, should Pup strike from distance...? Or, attempt own way to throw off balance?_ **

Leonardo already knew what to do, to beat Mikey.

As he watches Michelangelo still spinning on his shell... He stepped on the line to his left, and forced it to wiggle. The sudden shaking, while should be somewhat expected, did startle the orange-masked turtle when he felt himself topple from side-to-side before getting back to his feet to stop the shaking. Leo only smiled at his brother, still nodding his head slightly to follow the music's rhythm. Seeing that he wasn't going to come at him, Mikey decided to come at him, by doing The Strut.

Leo responded... By just tapping his foot lightly on the line the two stood on, still nodding his head.

Mikey took that as a challenge. While it may not look like it, tapping your foot and nodding your head at the same time, acting like you're waiting for somebody to make the first move, is considered a taunt of it's own and to call a fellow dancer out. So, when he got in close, started waving his arms. No doubt, he wanted to distract his brother, as an attempt to confuse him if he's going to attack or provoke him to attack. All he needs to do is get Leo to attack him, make the two go back and when he's back to standing in front of the building where Raphael and Donatello awaited their turn, launch himself on that end to get across and onto the Dragon Gate.

Unknown to him, Leonardo had already figured out his plan and knew how to beat him at his own game.

To shock his three brothers, rather than make an attack on him... He did The Criss-Cross Toprock. Yep, he's challenging the youngest-brother of the family, who considers himself the Champion of Dancing.

No longer thinking about winning the dumb training session and completely ignoring the orders of Raphael and Donatello, too focused on the music screaming in his ears, he shifted his body to do The Waving.

Leonardo responded by doing the Heel-Toe Toprock, going from one line to the next line or two over before returning to the middle. The lines beneath them jiggled as they shifted their body to dance, at times going from one line to the next, trying to out-throw one of their beat and make them fall.

Not willing to back down, Mikey did The C-Walk.

_There! Now is your chance! Finish this Dance Off!_

Smiling, Leonardo did The Beat It Move... Making his way towards his brother.

Getting a bit irritated on how well his big brother is at dancing like him, Michelangelo danced The Moonwalk, backing away from his brother and finally planning on ending this game. When they reached the near end of the wire that's connected to the building, Mikey bent his legs and launched himself into the air.

Raphael and Donatello smiled, watching as the youngest was halfway to the Dragon Gate... Only for their joy to be crushed when Leo, also, launched himself in the air and swiftly caught up to the orange-masked turtle. Before the youngest-turtle could even think about doing anything, the blue-masked turtle jabbed his elbow against his plastron. The force was enough to ruin his backflip and forced his body to drop down, missing the Dragon Gate and only able to make an attempt to grab for one of the lines.

Michelangelo coughed, trying to catch his breath, before he felt something hard sitting on the hand that kept him dangling in the middle of the air. Looking up, it was his big brother, giving him a raised eyebrow. He was silently asking him to admit defeat, or will force him to drop down to the street.

Letting out a groan of a sigh, Mikey reached beneath his strap and turned off his T-Phone.

"Lame…" He groaned, signaling that he's admitting defeat and has failed to beat the blue-masked turtle.

Said turtle, satisfied to hear that he won, removed his foot from Mikey's hand and helped pulled him to the Dragon Gate.

"Good try, Mikey. Though, next time, do turn down the volume of your music; if anybody figures out how you move to the rhythm of your song, they can turn it against you. Also, never allow yourself to be tricked into a battle, even if it's something you love to do." Leonardo advised, patting the orange-masked turtle on the shoulder before going back on the line to take on the next turtle.

Next one to try and get across, is Donatello. Like before, Leo pulled out Kamiizumi. And this time, he's going to keep one of his fangs out for the remainder of the training exercise.

_'Unlike Mikey, Raph and Don will positively bring out weapons into this. However, they won't use it for close-quarter fighting.'_

The purple-masked turtle, with a confident smile on his face, brought out a single Shuriken. Though, Leo has a feeling he'll be using more than that. Even from a certain distance, he can see his brother's reddish-brown eyes lightly bobbing around their area.

_He's targeting certain spots, to where he wants his weapons to aim for you!_

**_Distraction_ ** **_maneuver; Pup focuses on Small Fangs and Claws, while Kin crosses over to goal._ **

_'Figure he would do something like that, all to avoid a fight and go along with their deceit.'_ He smirked, letting out a pretend yawn of boredom. "Any moment now, Don. Before dawn comes, would be nice."

As he expected to happen, his pretend yawn forced his brother to yawn. The moment his eyes closed as he yawned, Leo made the first move... A cheap shot his brothers didn't expect him to do, by jumping on the line the two stood on.

"Whoa!" Donatello yelped out, slightly losing his balance from the wiggling shaking from below his feet and, as he waved his arms around, unintentionally, a few of his throwing knives and a Shuriken fell from his grasp and hit the ground. When the shaking finally stopped, the purple-masked turtle glared at his brother. "Leo! That wasn't fair!" He yelled, grabbing for his spare weapons he kept in a small-pouch that's attached to the strap around his torso.

Leo simply smiled, then, just to annoy his brother even more, lightly jumped between the three lines in the middle.

"It's a fight, Donnie. Remember what Sensei told us: 'Seek victory, not fairness'." He reminded, pleased to see the anger starting to cloud his brother's eyes.  _'Come on. Make your mark. I'm wide open.'_

Now annoyed of Leo moving around, it made Donatello's aim for a clearer target to throw his weapons at him. He does consider cutting some of the lines to give him a less advantage of moving, but knew they couldn't do any damage to the area and have humans wonder what or  _who_  cut the lines to the paper lamps.

So, left with no other option, he had to mentally hit the marks that would hit anywhere of the three lines Leo kept jumping from one to the next. Immediately, he released the throwing knives and Shurikens, all jumping off of parts of the buildings around them and the Dragon Gate.

He started pushing his body to kick off running... When three throwing knives came his way and when he pulled out his Naginata Bō to catch them... A Shuriken and another throwing knife came from behind. He instantly recognized the two being some of his weapons he just threw at Leo and twirled his weapon to block them both. The moment his back was turned, something slammed right against his shell and forced him back onto the rooftop he and Raph stood on.

Raphael and Michelangelo were wide-eyed stunned at what they saw: Leonardo, having to somehow oversee what their genius-brother was planning on doing, has turned the tables on him and sent his attack right back at him, using them to distract him long enough to attack him from behind and make him lose the training session.

The red-masked turtle helped his brother to his feet, as he glared at his older-twin.

"Never show eye-movement, let alone flash a throwing weapon in your hands to your opponent." Leonardo told his younger-brother, calmly turning his back and walking back to his spot. "Eyes are considered the Windows to the Soul, but they can also be like mirrors if your enemy can see what you're seeing. Never give them a hint to where you'll send your weapon to."

He barely made it to his spot when the slight jolting of the line beneath his feet told him that Raphael just entered the training session.

_'He's angry. Good. Meaning, he's gonna try to make this quick.'_

_What trick will he pull?_

**_Unlike Theta*-Brother Donatello, for using multiple, smaller Fangs and/or Claws, Beta-Brother Raphael surely use own Claws to attack Pup._ **

_'Should've known, he would pull something like that, especially something that would disrespect Kayura and Yakuza.'_

The sound of rushing wind alerted him that Raph had, indeed, just thrown one of his weapons to him. In response, he tossed Kamiizumi and the two weapons collided, stopping in mid-air and falling to the ground. While the two weapons fell, Raphael was charging like a raging bull to his brother, his left-hand turned into a fist, ready to strike his brother.

…Without much of a thought, Leonardo took a step back onto the line to his left and, when his brother struck nothing but the air, he delivered a punch of his own and his younger-twin fell off the line and to the street.

…All three of the brothers, had been defeated by their big-brother. And worse? He beaten them, in their  _own_  game.

Letting out a tiring sigh, Leonardo jumped down to the ground and went over to grab for his weapon, the blade locked in-between the three claws of the Sai. Looking very closely, noticing a certain scar on the bottom of the Sai, it was Kayura his brother tossed his way. After separating the two weapons and sheathing his sword, he turned Kayura to have the handle of the weapon pointed behind him and thrusted the weapon over his shoulder.

He knew Raphael is behind him.

"A true warrior never throws his weapon… However, that doesn't mean they can't throw the weapon of another fighter, who would toss their weapon so carelessly and obviously."

The red-masked turtle growled, as he swiped for his weapon, making sure he snatched it away from his brother's hand to avoid hurting him.

Behind him, Donatello and Michelangelo drop down to the street, as well.

"That was so uncalled for, Leo!" Donnie yelled, stomping over to grab for his remaining Shurikens and throwing knives.

"Yeah, Dude! That was so unfair!" Mikey agreed, pouting. "I'm supposed to be the best dancer in the family!"

Raph and Don glared at the orange-masked turtle. Obviously, he wasn't too upset is that they're big brother is turned their plan against them and was more upset of the little dance off the two did.

"What's the big deal, Bro?! That wasn't very ninja-like, the way you took us out. You cheated!"

"Like how you three intended to do, in order to win?" The blue-masked turtle replied, getting to his feet and turning to face them, glaring the three brothers and folding his arms over his chest.

The three blushed, stunned to have been caught.

"You would dare accuse me of not playing fair, when you three were plotting to do so from the very beginning? I told you guys that the only way to get past me, was by close-quarter fighting. Instead, you decided to play by your own rules."

"Hey, it was our only way to get across to the Dragon Gate. That was our main goal, not to fight how  _you_  do!" Raphael argued, with Donatello and Michelangelo agreeing with him.

Leo rolled his eyes.

"So, if you were going to try to sneak into a building, you would do exactly what you just try to do?" He asked, catching his brothers a bit off guard. "Raph, if there was an enemy, who you would fight on the rooftops that had official spacing and movements for you to have, you would throw one of your weapons at the opponent and charge him, head on?"

"...Well, yeah, I would." Raph replied, not seeing the problem.

The humanoid-wolf/turtle wanted to facepalm himself.

"All right. Let's say, just for the heck of it, that the battle went exactly like ours did. He was able to see pass your trick, used his own weapon to knock your own weapon aside and charged you, head on. You wouldn't have that much time to pull out your other weapon, no time to block his attack and, after you hit the ground, he could've easily pinned you and then killed you with your own discarded weapon or another weapon he kept on his person. Still think you would've done exactly what you did in training?"

He didn't get an answer that time, which told Leo that Raph didn't want to say anything to prove he made a point.

"Still, Leo, you've just said what Father taught us: Seek victory, not fairness! So, what we did is justifiable!" Donatello butted in, wanting to win the argument so badly.

Leonardo sneered at his genius-brother.

"Yet, in the process, you three failed to get past me and were so easily defeated, and not because you three were slacking off on your training. Also, if there was more than one opponent to fight you in an area like this, you wouldn't have enough time to make any sneak attacks, especially if they all attacked you, simultaneously.  _-Again, none of them could come up a good combat.-_ Plus, even if you three were able to get across, you would had still lost.  _-He glared at Raphael, knowing he was going to yell and demand how they still would've lost, even if they did make it past him.-_ We struck a deal, Raph. I was expected you three to keep your end of the bargain by going along with my instructions. However, rather than honor it, you suggested on going behind my back and try cheating your way to win. Therefore, the moment you three concocted your plan to cheat, you forfeited."

The three brothers were in disbelief of the news. And yet, it didn't matter. Leonardo is the victor of the training session and, as they agreed, they had to listen to him and will have to continue looking for mutagen.

…What they didn't expect, was for their big brother to, without warning, let out a massive yawn.

"Is it getting that late?" He asked, looking up at the sky and seeing the stars in the sky shining a bit dimmer than usual. "It seems that we didn't bother checking the time, before we stopped for training session."

Raph, Don and Mikey were confused. Wondering what their brother is doing.

"Dawn will arrive in a few hours.  _-He turned to his brothers, letting out a tiring sigh.-_ You three got lucky. We're ending the search, but we will continue our search tomorrow night."

Hearing that they were going to stop searching for mutagen for the night, Michelangelo immediately went to cheering and already making a run for the nearest manhole-cover to get back to the Lair. Raphael and Donatello, while a bit stunned, were very pleased of the news and already went on their way to follow their baby brother.

When they were no longer in sight, Leonardo smirked.

_Aren't you going a bit too easy on them? You guys could've continued searching for another hour, before the stars started to vanish._

_'I know. But if I made them continue searching, they'll be pouting and will start to rebel from my orders. Not only that, but they need to take my words to heart and consider taking their training very seriously, instead of doing it the easy way.'_

_**Pup has other reason, for calling off search.** _

_'…Yeah… I do.'_

Turning his body to his left, Leonardo started walking to the opposite direction from the Lair… Then, leaping in the air, with his arms stretched out, he made his body turn into his wolf-form and took off sprinting to where he has to go.

* * *

 **At Central Park…  
** The park was quiet. Not even the owls were screeching in the night, and they intended to not disturb the calm and quiet. Not now. Not when there's important business going on at this very moment.

On the hill, a black-wolf with swords strapped to his back, straps over his limbs and a blue-bandana wrapped around his neck, stood tall and proud. His Cerulean/Sapphire-moon eyes reflected the moon's own light, making him appear more of a silhouette that came to life from the shadows of the night... It even gave his crescent-moon scar over his right-eye a certain glow of it's own, as if he just regained a similar attack to make it glow-red.

Before him: Four dogs, two cats, five raccoons, two foxes and, above them, four crows, seven ravens and an owl. They were the ones to heed his call when summoning them with his mighty howl, demanding to talk to those who volunteered to scout for the canister of mutagen.

Leonardo gazed at each animal with pride, touched by their loyalty to put off their daily lives to meet him at such short notice. While he knew there are more scouts within the city, like the pigeons, doves and the few rats, he can't wait any longer to start the meeting and learn if they found any canisters or not.

 _ **"Brothers, sisters, those who heed my call. I thank you, and welcome you all to this meeting. And on such short notice, no less."**_ He started, nodding his head forward.

One of the four dogs, a male Malamute, stepped up and nodded his head back to Leo.

_**"You request to seek an audience with us and, as such, we came to here and speak of news that'll aid us in our time of great need."** _

Leo let out a grunt, approving the response to one of his many animal allies of New York.

_**"Very good."** _

He commented, sitting down to get comfortable. The moment Leo sat, the other mammals get the same. Even the birds, who stayed in the air, came down and took roost upon the grass. They all waited to hear what black-wolf have to say to them.

_**"Before we discuss the reason why we are here, there's one thing that I wish to know about, first: Has there been any word, or sighting, for the one call Wing Screech?"** _

Wing Screech is what the animals of New York have been calling a creature that's been terrifying them since it came to existence...  _Kirby O'Neil._

A few of the animals made small, muttering sounds amongst each other. No doubt, they're discussing about the topic and probably trying to figure out when Wing Screech was last seen.

Barely a minute later, one of the seven ravens let out a loud "Awh!". It was a four year-old male.

 _ **"We have news, for the one call Wing Screech, Moon Scar."**_ He replied, slowly walking up to stand in front of the group, staring into Leo's Cerulean/Sapphire-moon eyes.

The wolf firmly nodded his head to the bird.

_**"Speak, Night Talon."** _

Night Talon nodded his head.

_**"Short time ago, Wing Screech sighted near Lady Liberty. Last seen, was caught sleeping, hanging upside-down the handle of torch."** _

Some of the other ravens and all of the four crows let out cries of agreement, confirming his story to being true.

Leo's expression showed sign of surprise, with the hint of great relief and happiness to hear that his pseudo-uncle had been found.

 _ **"Is he still there?"**_ He asked, his tail slightly swaying with anticipation.  _'Please tell him he's still there. If so, that means he's taken residence at Lady Liberty and give us some time to set up another area to keep him and the other animals of the city safe, until Don can come up with an antidote.'_

Unfortunately, he didn't get the answer he wanted to hear. When asked, the birds showed remorse.

_**"He left Lady Liberty; he was only there for two days, until a large boat scared him and took off flying past the Hudson River. No doubt, Wing Screech went to Hudson Valley."** _

Night Talon's report made the situation much worse for the humanoid-wolf/turtle. He and his brothers never went that far within the city for their patrol, and he's certain that Master Splinter won't let them venture that far for Hudson River Valley. Even if he were to bond with the trees in Hudson Valley to tap into Root Bond, it would take possible a week to complete the bonding and has to be within the area to fully bond with the trees.

That means, for the time being, he's gonna have to put on a halt on tracking Kirby O'Neil until he returns near the city.

He gave off a gruff of a sigh.

 _ **"I see…"**_ He replied, slightly digging the claws of his right-paw into the ground before him.  _ **"In that case, I'm gonna need a few of you to head out for Hudson River Valley and inform the animals in that area to be on high alert. Make sure to have them give out word and to immediately inform me, if he's on the move, again."**_

Night Talon let out a firm "Awh", then slowly backed right back to his group.

_**"Now that's taken care of, back to the reason to why we're all here… I know it's been a little over seven sun, since I informed you of the canisters that a great threat made to turn us into creatures that should never exist. A threat my own brothers caused to increase great threats within the city. However, right now, my Kins and I are starting to get** **desperate on our search for canisters… I called you here, to learn if any of you have any news to finding any of the canisters."** _

All the animals in front of him simply stared at him. None of them made the slightest noise that would interrupt the black-wolf's plea for their help.

Inside of his mind, Leonardo grew worried. He feared that he asked far too soon for them to give out a report. That he's been asking too much of them for his help, despite that he's doing this to prevent any of them from getting turned. And since neither his Conscience or his Instinct can't talk to him as a wolf, he has to deal with the situation on his own.

Just as he was about to call off the meeting and apologize for taking up their time...

 _ **"We found three canisters!"**_ One of the five raccoons blurted out, immediately stepping up to present himself to the group.

Leo was stunned at the creature's words.

_**"…What?"** _

Eyeing the creature with some doubt, since their sight isn't as well as their sense of touch, one of the two cats slowly stalked up to the animal.

_**"You're sure, Mint? You and your group found three canisters?"** _

The raccoon nodded his head at the feline, not taking the offense in the least.

_**"Affirmative. Our sights may not be strong, but it did give off a certain green color. Also, the glass feels very thick and one of the ends gave off a terrible scent of poison, mixed with earth and fire."** _

Leo didn't need to ask for any more proof to verify Mint's description of what he found… However, his fear grew when he described the scent the mutagen carried from one of it's ends.

 ** _"Was it leaking? Did anyone touched it?"_  **He demanded, getting to his feet and standing before the animal.

The raccoon, taking a step back from the sudden movement, shook his head.

_**"There are no cracks on any of them to indicate a possible leaking amongst the canisters and we made certain none would come near it, should there be a chance they could be broken."** _

The wolf let out a very deep sigh, relieved of the news.

_**"Thank you, Mint, along with your group, for finding the canisters. Will you tell me where the canisters are located?"** _

In response, the raccoon let out a squeal, as if laughing.

_**"Of course, Moon Scar. I want to get rid of that stuff more than anything, even if they are shiny; don't want any of the younglings to get near that stuff, or mix in with our food. We hid them underneath a dumpster, wrapped in newspaper, at an alley in Mill Lane."** _

The other four raccoons nodded their heads, confirming Mint's description of the location of the three canisters of mutagen.

Hearing the location, Leonardo's tail started wagging lightly. He didn't know how much better the news could be, despite how small a certain amount of canisters had been found.

_**"We, also, found a canister."** _

The cat that questioned Mint called up, making Leo no longer having any doubt on calling the meeting to order.

In seven minutes, each of the animals informed him about their report of finding the canisters. All together, they found a total of nine canisters of mutagen: Three from the raccoons, one from the cats, three from the dogs and two from the foxes. With the raccoons' canisters located at Mill Lane, the cats' canister is hidden underneath Coney Island, while the dogs' canisters are at three, separate locations: The New York Botanical Gardens, Rockaway Park and 56 Leonard Street. As for the foxes, their canisters are in Little Italy and Nolita.

Leonardo has never felt so proud of his animal allies, than he did this very night. Not only had they been keeping the mutagen away from the humans and other animals, but are doing a hell of a lot better at finding them than he and his brothers. Though, if he were to track them on his own, it would've gotten a bit faster than having the guys wasting time digging through garbage and waiting for Don to finish scanning an area after every fifteen to even a half hour.

Again, he lowered his head to the animals before him.

_**"I cannot thank you all, along with the other scouts, enough, for helping me and my brothers with our** **search for the canisters. I do not know how to be able to repay you all, for your hard work and efforts."** _

The owl let out a few hooting, ruffling his feathers.

 _ **"We do not require any reward, or even a debt, from you, Moon Scar."**_ The nocturnal bird replied, surprising the black-wolf.

Before he could ask what he means, Night Talon spoke up.

_**"You saved us all; Man, Earth-Young, even** Earth **, from our enemies. You laid down your life for ours and still, at this moment, are doing what you can to keep us safe. This is the very least we can do for you, and this isn't even close to** **fulfilling the Life-Debt we owe you."**_

While he, too, knew of the Life-Debt and the ways animals are willing to far to fulfill the Life-Debt, Leo was still at a loss for words. Such devotion and loyalty they have for him, the gratitude for his sacrifice to stop Kraang from kidnapping innocent lives of the city and attempting to invade their planet. It was something his brothers never bothered showing to him, even after returning to the city from Northampton and getting better. To them, it was like the passed month was just a few days and Leo sacrifice was like a normal routine. Making the impossible, possible and putting their Sensei's training into use.

…To him, the animals, Earth-Youngs, like himself, always had and will always be his most trustful allies he can ever and  _truly_  rely.

He sat back down and, for a third time, bowed his head.

 _ **"You all Honor me with your devotion and loyalty… Yet, I cannot have you all pledge yourself to fulfilling a Life-Debt to me."**_ His words stunned the animals.  _ **"I never thought of any creature to, one day, repay my sacrifice by swearing a Life-Debt to me. My main thought during that time, and right now, is making sure everyone lives and survives from Kraang... But, if you're insisting to keep hold to the Life-Debt, then all I ask in favor is to help me find the rest of the mutagen. Do this, and your debt will be fulfilled and paid in full."**_

The animals stared at one another, then talked amongst themselves. Leo knows why.

Life-Debt is sacred in the Law of Earth-Young, which animals follow to a T. Life is precious and every day, at any moment, death could be stalking for them and, if they're not careful, could be their very last day of life. And for that reason, many prefer to look after only themselves. Those would be so conceited, they won't care what they'll have to do in order to continue living… Even, to go as far as to extinguish life…  _Younglings_ , included.

Because of that, packs were made. And there, they learned that not only are their own lives are so important and should be cherished, but everybody else's who lives with them. And in time, they learn to have respect for other many, living creatures, who follow and live by the Law of Earth-Young... Where they learned, no matter what, even if there are enemies and traitors to walk the same ground they do,  _Earth,_  herself, loves every life.

Therefore, those who can truly see who is enemy and who is friend, will put aside the consequences on what their actions will bring them and lay down their very life, to show there is still justice and that the Law of Earth-Young is to be upheld... And whatever the outcomes brings to that creature, they are to be blessed and granted a right for a debt to be returned for saving or sparing a life.

And the one that must fulfill the Life-Debt, is the one that must return the favor to their protector and/or savior… Even, if the debt would mean their very life, is payment.

After a few muttering amongst themselves, the same Malamute stepped up.

_**"You ask so little of us for all you've done, and see this small task as a worthy payment to fulfill the Life-Debt?** -_ _Leonardo firmly nodded his head, answering the question with such honesty and a clear conscience… Amused, the Malamute let out a short gruff.- **…Very well... If that is what you request as payment, then so be it. We shall continue to assist you on finding the rest of the canisters, until all has been found."**_

Again, the black-wolf nodded his head.

_**"Thank you, Buck. It may be a while before I can get those canisters, without causing suspicious from my brothers. But, I promise you all, I will collect them and prevent them from falling into the wrong hand.**  -The animals approved the promise he made to him, understanding his need to keep his Blood a secret from his Pack.- **...Now, before we end this meeting until the next report for the canisters, is there anybody here who wishes to speak to me about?"**_

A few of the animals talked to each other, but he didn't have to wait to get a response from Buck.

 _ **"There are a few things we need to discuss about, Moon Scar."**_ He informed, having to hear some troubles going on before coming to the meeting.  _ **"The birds have something they wish to tell you."**_

Night Talon, a crow and the owl came forward. They all looked rather angry, anger Leo knew they held back on when discussing about the canisters.

**_"Moon Scar, we're not making any excuses for our failure on finding the canisters. However, for the past five suns, we've been given false information about the whereabouts we were told to find. All the information and description of the location, all proved to having no sign of the canisters being there, at all."_ **

Night Talon's words brought anger and such disappointment to the black-wolf, wondering who would dare lead the Wind Soarers astray and treat the search as if it were a game of Night Hunt.

 _ **"Do you know who spoke in lies?"**_ He asked, earning many nods from the birds. One of the crows spoke up, hobbling in front of the group and the three birds.

 _ **"It's those vermin!"**_ He cawed, flapping his wings and beating the ground.  _ **"Those puffy-tailed, buckteeth rodents!"**_

Cerulean/Sapphire-moon eyes glared at the bird, but the anger isn't sent to the small black-bird. his claws dug into the ground, a low rumble vibrating in his chest.

_**"They? Why would they lie about something so important, that they chose to not** **participate in our search? And why did you heed their words?"** _

The owl let out a hoot, drawing his attention to him.

_**"They did choose to not aid us… However, when they heard what happened to their own kind to finding the broken canister and ingesting the liquid, they decided to offer us with information to help find the canisters. Of course, we didn't believe them, at first. However, we were low on support, that we had no choice but to allow them to help. Since then, they'd been giving us false leads and/or locations on 'hearing' where the canisters were located. Two suns later, we found out they've been** **purposely knocking over the ravens and crows' nests from the trees and trying to take the trees for themselves."** _

The information was very startling to the mammals, and very appalling. The squirrels were always getting into trouble and causing problems, but to actually come up with a sinister plan to not only take away the birds' home but to kill their chicks? It was outright evil, even for the squirrels to commit.

The crow continued beating the ground, signaling his distress.

_**"A lot of us would be left with no nests and our chicks, even our eggs, would be killed, if the owls weren't there to protect them and chase the rodents away!"** _

Leonardo heard enough. He got to his feet and slammed his right-paw into the ground, snarling.

 _ **"This, is UNACCEPTABLE!"**_ He roared, his voice echoing throughout the park.  _ **"To use a situation to their own advantage, just because of their GREED and SELFISHNESS to take the trees from WIND SOARERS!** -He let out another bark, not caring if the humans were to hear him from the other-side of the Empire State Building.-  **This, I WONT TOLERATE! **-He stared down at the birds, all staying still underneath his gaze.-  **This matters is yours to deal with. What do you all decide to do?"**_

They all spoke up at once, flapping their wings and letting out high-pitch screech.

_**"DEATH!"** _

None of the other animals dare to speak up or talk them out of it; even if it may seem a bit extreme, birds have their ways to dealing with threats to their nests and chicks. While he, too, thinks those squirrels should die for their betrayal, Leo knew he can't let his anger guide him.

…However, that doesn't mean that those vermin won't get off so easily.

_**"As you clearly see, I am just as** **appalled and disgusted by their narcissistic plot to destroying your nests and attempts to killing your offsprings, all because they want to take the trees for themselves. And for that, attempt to take a life, especially the life of younglings... Means death.** -The birds, in unison, chirped in joy by his verdict… However, he wasn't quite done and silenced them with the stomping of his paws to the ground.-  **However, I have a few things to say: First, because I'm not a Wind Soarer, I have no** **jurisdiction to make decision that's involved with Wind Soarers. Meaning, my word and choices, cannot be accountable in the matter. And second... Because only a certain amount of the rodents have participated into the plot to attack your nests and chicks, you are only allowed to take the lives of those who spread the lies and to attack what is yours. Any other squirrels, who aren't part of any of the two, must NOT be harmed."**_

In their rage, the birds protested, demanding that he let's them go and kill every squirrel in sight and rid the city the problem of the little abominations.

Surprisingly, Buck got to his feet and barked at the birds, shutting them up.

 _ **"Enough!"**_ He growled, baring his teeth at the birds.  _ **"Moon Scar's decision is fair and just! Just because a certain amount of those pests attempt to take over your territory and kill your younglings, doesn't mean you hold all of them accounted when they weren't part of it. Besides, if you try to hunt down every vermin in the city, it will only bring chaos to the city and soon, we'll end up fighting with each other. And that is something we can't allow to happen... Not when we have something more important to deal with, something that's even more bigger than dealing with vermin."**_

The birds calmed down to his words, and had enough common sense to know that he's right. They even felt ashamed for putting their own ambitions before Leonardo's problem that is everyone's problem that they need to take care of first.

All together, they bowed their heads forward to the black-wolf.

_**"Forgive us, Moon Scar. We were out of line when we spoke against your decision, and allowed anger to cloud our judgment."** _

Leonardo simply nodded his head, accepting their apology.

_**"You had every right to be angry at the vermin for what they've done to your nests and your chicks, which is a matter you must deal on your own. While I still insist to only kill the ones who spread the lies and near attempts to kill your younglings, once again, I have no jurisdiction to the ways of the Wind Soarers. Therefore, whatever choice you make, it is yours and yours alone."** _

Night Talon, the head crow and the owl nodded their heads and slowly went back to their group, ending their conversation.

Looking over the group, Leonardo awaited to see who else will step up and discuss an issue that they need his advice on before he ends the meeting. This time, a German Shepherd came and stood beside Buck.

 ** _"We are having problems with the humans,_ " **he reported. _**"My mate and I are expecting our first litter soon, and lately, the humans have been intruding into our territory and threatening to take our pack away with the sticks with shiny wires and cages with food as bait. Five members of my packmates had been caught, and taken away. Our den is no longer safe for us, yet we don't have anywhere else to go. We require help and protection from human-trappers."**_

Leonardo, understanding the way the strays live in the city, wants to help them in any way that he can... Though, he knew that the best way for them to have a happy and safe life, especially if they're expecting pups, is to allow the humans to take them and be placed into a home with humans. And, of course, they won't do so, even if he were to tell them that their pups will have happy and healthy lives if under the care of human.

_**"While I sympathize the situation you and your pack are in, unfortunately, I'm afraid I cannot lend you my strength to deal with the humans.** -The German Shepherd started to growl at him, but Leo continued his explanation.-  **Even though I can turn into a wolf and pass to being a full-black German Shepherd, myself, I wish to not engage any combat with the humans. Otherwise, I'd probably end up getting more animals captured or worse, euthanized if I act like a wild animal that they'll surely think to having rabies."**_

The German Shepherd stop growling at the black-wolf, understanding why he's refusing to offer him and his pack aid. It would be selfish of him to have Leo only protect his pack, when other animals and non human-trappers are in danger from Kraang and the Foot Clan.

_**"I understand. But, still, I need help to keep my pack safe."** _

_**"And I have told you many times, Chief, that those humans are trying to help you and your pack to live better lives."** _

Chief growled at his words.

 _ **"And I keep telling you the same answer: We don't want to live as property, as**_ pets  _ **to Man!"**_

Leo let out a deep heave of frustration.

_**"Even if it means the lives of your pups are always going to be in danger, possibly waiting at Death's Embrace? Are you willing to allow your pride to lead your pack to extinction, all because you refuse to give Man a chance to help you?"** _

The German Shepherd snarled at him, crouching low to the ground.

 _ **"You DARE bring my pups to this conversation?!"**_ He demanded, his limbs trembling to pounce but able to hold himself back, not wanting to start a fight with the one who saved their lives from beings that don't belong on their home. _**"Just because you saved our lives, doesn't mean you can command us to do whatever you wish! Besides, you decided to have us repay the Life-Debt by finding those canisters and once that's done, we don't have to listen to you!"**_

In response, Buck, once again, stood up for Leo, by grabbing Chief's scruff with his fangs.

 _ **"You WILL show the respect Moon Scar deserves,"**_ he ordered.  _ **"And he's right to tell you to let the humans take you and your pack away; your den is too exposed for humans to find you and for nature to bring her wrath upon you, without any cover to shield you from the cold and heat. Your area doesn't even allow you to find any food, forcing you and your gatherers to leave your den unguarded from other packs to claim as theirs."**_

The German Shepherd tried to get the Malamute off him, snapping his jaws to bite at his feet, but Buck proves to be much stronger and more fit than the thinner-dog.

_**"Of course you would go along with his suggestion, since you live with Man!"** _

Buck tightened his grip, forcing a small-whimper out from the German Shepherd.

_**"Yes, but unlike you, I'm alive and still continue to thrive. Plus, because I show loyalty and care for them as if they're of our kind, they trust me enough to not needing a chain to keep me to their side. I get food that doesn't make me sick, shelter from the cold and heat, and even helped me heal from an injury that's been hurting my paw. So, yes, I live with humans, but they don't see me as some meaningless possession, but as a member of their pack."** _

_**"But they'll take my mate and pups away from me! They're MINE!"** _

One of the cats, a Siamese cat, annoyed that this meeting was taking too long and wants to go to her own den to nap, she came up and smacked the German Shepherd square at his nose with her tail.

 _ **"Listen,"**_ she said.  _ **"Humans may appear large, scary and, of course, the reason why there's always filth and trash all around us. However, just because you lived your whole life as a stray, been told to never trust humans since you were a pup, doesn't mean you know that every human is bad without actually making any interaction or witnessing any sort of action going on, everyday. And yes, they'll probably separate you from your mate and your pups. But, knowing that they're at least alive and not in any danger from being attacked by your enemies or starving to death, shouldn't that be more important than allowing your selfish pride to force them to live the life of** **never-ending struggle for survival…? Or, are you too proud to even let them go and to watch them suffer the way you most likely did at their age?"**_

Chief listened to the feline's words and while he would be against taking any advice from some feline that should be his meal, he couldn't help but actually think what she and Buck are trying to make him hear.

Leonardo and the animals all waited to hear and see what the German Shepherd is going to choose, and they all hoped that he will make the right choice… Even, if it'll hurt him to let his mate and pups go. To never be in his pups' lives and watch them grow to become great dogs,  _separated_.

A few minutes later of silence, he spoke.

_**"…We should just surrender? Just like that...? And they won't hurt us?"** _

Sensing he won't attack, Buck let Chief go from his grip. The Siamese cat went back to sit next to the tabby cat that accompanied her to the meeting.

Hoping that he was going to let the humans help them, Leonardo answered the German Shepherd.

_**"It isn't surrendering, when accepting help from others. However, while it may be hard to do, you can't simply walk up to them and wait for them to wrap a leash around you… You're gonna have to allow some of your pack-mates, or even yourself and mate, to go into the traps that have food in them.** -Chief looked ready to snap, but Back's warning growl reminded him to wait and _ _conceal his anger.- **They won't be hurt and it'll make it easier for the humans to carry them to get them help. While for the rest for you and your pack who didn't get caught in the cage, should they bribe you with food, cautiously and slowly go to them and they'll give you the food, as they tie the leash around you. I promise you, it won't hurt. If they don't and cautiously go to you, you can let out a warning growl but do not engage combat."**_

_**"…And how do I know that they won't kill us, if we let them take us away?"** _

Leonardo slowly went up and stood over the German Shepherd sprawled on the grass, his expression completely blank and unable for any of the animals to tell what he's thinking… Then, he slowly laid in front of the canine, so his Cerulean/Sapphire-moon eyes can gaze into the dog's brown-eyes.

_**"I may not know what they'll do… But, from what I learned about the SPCA, they made a vow to never take the life of an animal, so long as that animal shows promises they see worth saving. And I see you, and your pack-mates, are going to get the help you'll need and, in due time, find homes that'll welcome you all as their own pack."** _

His gaze held so much promise and reassurance to the canine, Chief couldn't help but get lost into his gaze... The same gaze his own father always held for him, when promising him that he'll live and become the wise and great leader he knew his pup will be.

…And, as the wise and great leader he has to become, Chief gave the black-wolf his answer.

_**"…Very well."** _

The instant he gave his answer, the animals let out cries of relief. Beside him, Buck shoved his nose beneath his stomach to help him get to his feet, his tail wagging with joy.

 _ **"Finally!"**_ He barked, nuzzling his nose against the German Shepherd's face and licking him in the face.  _ **"You let go of your stubborn pride! I thought that was never going to happen!"**_

Chief, while feeling a bit annoyed by the comment, return the affection by lightly nipping at Buck's face.

_**"I know when I'm beaten, Big Brother. It takes a few moment to get through my thick skull you always claim I have."** _

Pleased to hear Chief is going to let his pack get the help they'll need and to get real homes to live long, happy lives, Leonardo got back to his feet and, after the two ceased their nuzzling, rested his own head on Chief's right-shoulder.

 _ **"I am proud of you,"**_ he said. _**"In due time, your pack will understand why you did this. And I assure you, your mate and pups will be grateful for the life you're giving them."**_ After pulling away, he went back to his spot and sat firm and tall, as Buck and Chief went back to their spots in their group.  _ **"Is there any other news or report the rest of you have or wish to discuss? Or, shall we bring this meeting to an end?"**_

Almost five minutes went by, and none stepped up… Though, for some reason, he feels someone wants to talk. Nevertheless, should they remain quiet before he ends their meeting, he won't force that animal to speak if they don't want to.

…Luckily, he didn't have to wait any longer.

 _ **"We have one more thing to say."**_ Night Talon spoke up, hobbling over to the group and, surprisingly, went to stand in front of Leonardo.  _ **"We have news about your enemy... The Shiny Skin."**_

The black-wolf's eyes widened to the bird's words, knowing which enemy that wore shiny as if it were skin. He gave the bird his undivided attention.

_**"Speak."** _

Gaining his permission, Night Talon did so.

_**"A few time ago, we saw him leaving his nest and going into those snake-like metal-box, without his skin. He spoke to Stone Canine and Curved Fang Fish, and said... He was leaving."** _

His word stunned the animals and, most of all, Leo. The black-wolf's eyes widened to his words, his snout slightly dropped in awe.

 _ **"…What?"**_ He didn't know if what he just heard is right.  _ **"…He's…**_ Leaving _ **?"**_ Night Talon nodded his head, and still, The black-wolf couldn't seem to process what the bird is telling him.  _ **"…You're certain, that he said he's leaving?"**_

Night Talon cawed, slightly ruffling his feathers.

_**"He specifically said, he's leaving for business in-… Japan, is it?"** _

When he said 'business' and 'Japan', Leonardo wondered what Oroku Saki was doing and what kind of business he needed to do in Japan. He needed more information to understand the situation.

_**"Was there any conversation going on that you or the others heard, that you can tell me?"** _

Understanding what he's asking, Night Talon turned to the other birds.

 _ **"Echo!"**_ One of the ravens, Echo, came forth and stood beside the bigger black-bird.  _ **"Repeat the conversation to Moon Scar."**_

A few croaking, Echo opened his beak and started to speak…  _Almost_ , exactly like Oroku Saki.

_**"'Xever, Bradford, I trust the both of you to take care of things here, while I'm away on business in Japan… Good. While I'm away, Karai is in charge; she needs to know how to lead, when she's ready to continue my work when I cannot. However, as I told her, there is to be no confrontation with the Turtles, until I get back... Make sure you take care of my daughter, otherwise... The punishment will be…** _ Dire _**. Understood'?"** _

With or without actually seeing the Shredder and with a voice that could almost mimic his tone, a freezing chill ran down Leo's back... And a great fire burned in his heart, wanting to find the man and have his fangs taste the blood of his enemy.

After speaking, Echo bowed his head to the black-wolf and went back to the group, leaving Night Talon to stand before the humanoid-wolf/turtle.

Leo didn't know what to think.

_'He's going away to do business in Japan, and told Xever, Bradford and Miwa to **not**  attack us…? He's planning something.'  **"Did he say or mention when he'll be back?"**_

Night Talon shook his head.

_**"He only said he was going to be gone for a while, but we have no idea for how long. Some of us followed his metal-box to the Metal Bird, he left since Dusk."** _

The news, somewhat, was reassuring to Leo.

_'He just left today… Meaning, we're safe from any Foot Clan activity... I hope. At least, for the time being.'_

_**"We also listened in on his conversation with the girl we think he claimed to be his."** _

Without warning, Leonardo snarled viciously at the bird. His reaction startled the animals and most took a step back from him.

 _ **"**_ **SHE** _ **IS NOT**_ HIS _ **!"**_ He barked, his eyes flashing so much hatred to Oroku Saki.

Night Talon, unable to move, ducked his head back and crouched against the ground.

_**"O-Of course she isn't, M-M-Moon Scar! I was j-j-j-just confirming if s-she's the chick S-S-Shiny Skin claimed was h-h-h-h-his to those larger c-creatures! I swear!"** _

Leonardo, seeing the fear coming from the bird beneath him and the animals who came to their meeting, immediately regretted snapping at them. Letting out a whimper of an apology, lowering his head and flattening his ears, the black-wolf stepped back.

_**"My deepest apology. I shouldn't had let my hatred for… Shiny Skin get the best of me like that. I am ashamed, by my actions."** _

Seeing that he calmed down, the animals no longer felt afraid. Night Talon, knowing that Moon Scar wouldn't hurt them in any way, went right back before him and nuzzled his head against his left-forearm.

 _ **"You are forgiven."**_ He said, lightly nipping at the bandages that covered his limbs.  _ **"Shiny Skin NOT true Sire to girl. We know she Moon Scar's Lost-Kin, stolen from Moon Scar's Father."**_

He had to clamp his snout shut, not wanting to make them fear him when telling them that Sensei wasn't his father... Even though it's the truth.

_**"What conversation did he had with my sister?"** _

Night Talon went back on track to his report.

_**"She was fighting beings in black. They appear to be human… Yet, they do not. Made weird sounds other metal things make, and carry no scent. She fought, but couldn't beat on her own... They looked ready to kill, but Shiny Skin ordered them to stop. Mentioned other enemy keeping word about 'Footbots being deadly as promised'."** _

Leo's eyes widened.

_'"Footbots'…? He is siding with the Kraang! And now, he's gotten rid of his followers and is using Kraang Technology to better his odds at fighting us. This isn't good.'_

_**"She was scared. Even claimed to think 'they would finish me off'... She asked if he wouldn't let them."** _

The black-wolf growled, hating the thought of his sister being afraid and thinking she would end up being killed by Shredder's decision to have Kraang give him robotic ninjas to fight his battle.

_**"He didn't answer her question, did he?"** _

The bird shook his head.

_**"Changed the subject, and told her he'd be gone... Said 'Disobedience comes with a stiff penalty'... Even** _ **exposed** _**claws to her."** _

In response, all of the animals went furious.

 _ **"He dare call her as his, yet purposely bare his claws to her?!"**_ Buck barked, digging his paws into the ground.  _ **"Mad! Mad Human!** **Madness and Death, he brings!"**_

Leonardo was glad he isn't the only one who thought the same about the man that was supposed to be his uncle, let alone holding no love for him or any doubts of the thought of him being dead.

_**"How did she reacted?"** _

_**"…She asked him, 'Even to your own daughter?'... And he told her, without any hesitation, as he left her in the Dark Room, 'Especially for my daughter'... He didn't care what his words bring to her, Moon Scar... She was** **sad** **... She** **shed** _ tears _**.** "_

His heart gave out to Miwa… And, to express sadness he has for his half-sister, lifted his head and let out a mighty howl.

 _'…Miwa... My sister… I'm so sorry.'_ He thought, letting the wind carry his sad tone through the air.  _'How I wish to take you away from that-... That **Hell**  you live with…  **Him**. How I longed to tell you the truth and bring you home, where you won't have to be abused by that _ **Kuso yarō** (Bastard)  _and know what is like to be truly loved by a family who you're meant to be with.'_

When his said song died down, he lowered his head and nuzzled his nose against Night Talon's head.

_**"Thank you, my friend."** _

The bird nodded his head and hobbled back to his group. There, they all waited to hear what he has to say.

_**"With Shiny Skin gone, no matter how short or long that time period will be, my Pack and I will be safe from any threat from the Foot Pack... For now. However, I wish for the birds to keep an eye on what goes on within their den, should any of his followers try to attack behind their Alpha's hide; some hold a grudge against my brothers and that, alone, will cause them to rebel. Whatever punishment they'll receive when he returns, must be something they'd grown used to.** -Some of the ravens and crows bowed their heads and, all together, took off into the air to head for the Abandoned Church.-  **While we're safe from the Foot Pack, that doesn't mean we're safe from Kraang. Meaning, everyone must pitch in to help one another for any signs of odd humans scouting and capturing strays or wild animals. So, for those who hold grudges with animals you don't want to work with, you must put aside your differences and work together if you want to avoid being taken and end up losing your lives against the Kraang… I promise you all, my Pack and I are going to do, whatever it takes, even with our own lives, to get rid of them."**_

The animals turned to one another, simply staring at each other… Then, all together, nodded their heads. They're taking his advice and are willing to do whatever means necessary, to live and survive the great threat that tried to take them in July.

With that said, Leonardo let out a mighty roar of a bark. Ending the meeting. Given the word to leave, the animals took off into opposite directions; some heading to their dens, others heading back to their humans and their den, and the rest going deep into the park to hide in the trees or bushes that humans wouldn't normally go.

Leo soon found himself alone…  _Almost_ alone.

Buck remained in his spot, staring at the black-wolf. His gaze made Leonardo feel uncomfortable.

_**"Is something wrong, Buck?"** _

The seven year-old dog simply stared at him. Something was clearly bothering him, but doesn't seem to know how to say it to him.

Being very patient, the black-wolf waited... His patience was paid off, three minutes later. And what Buck said, wasn't something he expected to hear.

_**"Are you content to hide your Blood, Moon Scar?"** _

The humanoid-wolf/turtle gave him an odd look.

_**"What do you mean?"** _

Buck let out a gruff. He didn't want Leo to avoid the question.

_**"How long do you plan to hide this from your Pack? The truth of your Blood? The ability to change?"** _

Leonardo turned away from the Malamute, growling lowly.

_**"I can't tell them. They wouldn't understand."** _

_**"Then, don't talk. Show them!"** _

_**"I can't!"** _

Frustrated, Buck went over and bit Leo in the ear. The bite did startle him to yelp, but didn't hurt him when the bite isn't that tight to cause any pain. Forced to stare at the large-dog, Buck continued the conversation.

_**"You can't hide the truth forever, Moon Scar. One of these Suns, you and your Pack will be in grave danger. And the moment that Sun comes, and you're left with no other options but to change, you're gonna have to do so… Unless, the secret is more important than the life of your own Pack?"** _

Leonardo growled at the immediate thought of his brothers, April and Master Splinter, all lying on the ground. Unmoving and covered in wounds…  _Dead_ , with no life in their eyes.

 _ **"Never!"**_ He barked.  _ **"I will do whatever it takes, within my power, to keep them safe and alive!"**_

_**"Does that also mean, to reveal the truth to them?"** _

Again, Leo his gaze away from the dog. It wasn't because of hesitation to answer; Buck knew Leonardo will willingly reveal his wolf-blood, if it means saving his brothers and April from death. No, the sudden silence isn't from answering the question.

…It was from the sudden thought of the outcome that would take place,  _after_  the threat would be gone.

_**"…You're still worried how your pack will react."** _

Finally, Leonardo answered with a nod, still looking away from the large-dog.

 _ **"They're not going to take the news well,"**_ he stated.  _ **"They'll think I've been lying to them, that I tricked them into thinking that I was like them and that I don't trust them to know the truth on what happened when we got mutated."**_

_**"And is that true, on what you** **speculate to be true when they find out the truth?"** _

Leo turned to the dog, eyes flashing with pain.

 _ **"If you'd actually lived with my brothers, watch them grow, develop identities and personalities for themselves, you would know. I should know that to being true, on account that they get to live however**_ they  _ **wanted to do. As for myself, since the age of four, my childhood is involved with training, learning how to fight... How to**_ kill _ **."**_

Buck felt bad for the pup. Not once had the humanoid-wolf/turtle ever talked about his personal life, that didn't involved his brothers or the humanoid-rat he avoids revealing to be his father. Whenever asked about his life, he always brings up his brothers or Master Splinter: What they did, their interests or even the many battles they went through against mutants, Kraang and the Foot Clan.

Every time, Leonardo made certain to not reveal too much about his life or anything that went on in his life with the Hamato Clan... Until now.

At the moment, Leo didn't care that he revealed his past. He just needed to get the weight off his chest, and make the dog see why he must keep his ability a secret.

_**"The moment they learned that I have wolf-blood coursing through my veins, they'll learn that I'm no longer their full-blooded brother. I'm not even that closely related to my Alpha, like my brothers. I'd probably be more like his nephew by blood, than his pup. Even if I try to explain to them that I never had the ability to change between appearances until after a run in with a mutant in June, they'll see that I lied by not telling them that I'm a humanoid-wolf/turtle for the passed fifteen years."** _

The Malamute sat before the black-wolf, his eyes showing no signs to look away.

_**"And then what? You think they'll renounce you as their pack-mate? Force you to leave the Den, and to fend for yourself? You told us about your time in Northampton, how you interacted with the Forest Spirit and wish to go back to live the rest of your days in the** **forest. And since you plan to leave the city for a greater life, why would you care-?"** _

_**"I made a Blood-Oath promise to my Alpha's Deceased Mate, that I wouldn't leave them!"**_ Leonardo's bark of an answer surprised Buck. He didn't need to ask what the black-wolf was talking about, and not because he and the animals were told what happened to Tang Shen.  _ **"She's been watching over us since my brothers and I were a few months old and to this very day, she comes into my dreams. Even before I found out that Karai is the sister I thought to had died by Oroku Saki, I promised to always be there for my pack and to make sure they always return home from our many battles against Kraang and the Foot Pack… That's why I can't leave them; I promised to stay with them, until I get my sister out of the clutches of the Foot Pack and our enemy pays his sinful way with his life."**_

Buck could only stare at the black-wolf, taking in what he just told him... And like Leonardo, he was at a loss on what to do or what to say.

It's pretty clear the boy didn't know what to do once his secret is revealed… But, at the same time, he would find any way necessary to continue to uphold his promise to the human who claimed him as her own child. It's possible, because of the way he's been raised and his blood, that he couldn't handle being shunned and rejected for becoming something he didn't had a choice to be.

It became more clear, even without having to meet his brothers, they truly have been raised to be human and turned their backs on their true heritage as animals.

Staring up at the sky, Buck saw some of the stars starting to vanish. He knew that Dawn will be upon them, soon. Gently, he nudged the black-wolf.

 _ **"Dawn will be arriving, soon."**_ He warned, lifting his head back up to the sky, getting Leonardo to look up to take notice.  _ **"If you wish to maintain your solo scout of the city, you best be heading back to your pack... As your birth-form."**_

Taking the hint, the black-wolf willed his body to turn back into his humanoid-wolf/turtle*, becoming Hamato Leonardo. The fifteen year-old teen, after gently stroking the dog's head, got to his feet and slowly started making his way to the manhole-cover. While walking, Buck's final words reached him.

_**"You can't hide the truth from them, forever! Tell them! They need to know the truth! Otherwise, they'll think you don't trust them to know the truth and will turn their backs on you! They have the right to know! They're your** _ **pack** _**!"** _

_'…I know…'_ He thought, pulling the manhole-cover to the side and going under the hole, before slowly pulling the cover back in it's spot, staring up at the sky.  _'But how can I learn to trust them... If I can't trust myself to let them know the truth?'_

TBC

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long; I had a major skin irritation since April 8th (Luckily, it finally stopped almost three weeks later); been scratching until parts of my body was covered in broken blood-vessel spots. The back of my shoulders got scabs and my left-leg was badly scratched up, it got covered in a bruise that was about the size of a cutting knife (the big one, for cutting steak). My mom believe it's from the laundry detergent, though I think it's something else. I just hope it wasn't something serious.
> 
> I know you guys want me to continue the episode in this chapter, but I feel like stopping the chapter here is actually more appropriate. Also, I'm going to be skipping the rest of the episode and moving on ahead to "Slash and Destroy" (I wasn't going to do this chapter, but then thought it would be a great encounter for Slash/Spike and Leo)... After that chapter, we're gonna see how true Buck's words are going to be in "Fungus Humungous".
> 
> And in very sad news... Notre Dame got burnt… It's very sad, for such a beautiful building to be damaged. Luckily, it's still standing and still, from what I heard, in one piece.
> 
> In a time like this, I think Disney should consider doing a Live Action Movie of Hunchback of Notre Dame. It probably won't be as good as the cartoon, but they should consider doing a movie in dedication on helping Notre Dame.
> 
> *: The war general of the pack. They take direct orders from the Alpha in case of a war. The Alpha may be the one to declare war, but the Zeta leads the army and plan the plans for war. They also train new recruits for position as a Eta and Eta or more to take his or her place in future. Normally there is only a single Zeta, but if the populace is high there can be as many as three. (War General)
> 
> *: They are the jester of the pack. They help to make others laugh when things get stressful. (Jester)
> 
> *: They are the lead medics within the pack, therefore it is they that the Iota aspire to be. (Lead Medic)
> 
> *: If you guys are wondering how fast Leo can change between his wolf-form and is true-form, think just as fast as the characters from Wolf's Rain do when turning between their human-forms and their true, wolf-forms.
> 
> Some good news (I hope): I'll probably be trained to become a Checker, soon. They're hoping for me to become one, before Summer starts. Hopefully, I'll be making more money. I just hope the pay will be better than it is right now. Wish me luck, you guys!
> 
> R&R


	22. The Price of Vendetta

**September Fifth; Two Weeks Later…  
** _My talk with Buck had left me with nightmares that went on for nearly two weeks, straight. I feel like I haven't slept in three moons, and my nightmares are getting me to having Insomnia._

_It's **really**  bad._

_My sleep problems are taking a heavy toll on both my body, and mind. If that wasn't bad enough, the herbal teas April and her father got me are all gone and Sensei's own teas aren't helping with either my stomach problems, or my sleep. The only way I could actually get some rest, even if it were for a few hours at best, was to use pressure points to force myself to sleep… Or, without anybody knowing, sneak into Don's Lab and inject some of his sedatives into the teas I would drink before going to bed._

_I don't want to think about the nightmares, let alone talk about them. But, I know that they know of my tired, fatigue state and soon, they'll force the truth out of me about the... The **dreams**._

_Even with my Insomnia issue, I wouldn't allow it to bring me down when encountering with a giant, feral-crazed humanoid-mutagen mutant running through the city, looking for April after **Donnie** decided to vent his feelings to Timothy. My foolish brother was so caught up in his own world, he didn't even think about putting away the few mutagens we found together, which gave Timothy the strength to break out of the Lair and find my pseudo-sister._

_…I do feel sad for Tim; we got him involved in our battle, resulting him to mutate, and when we had no choice to but trick him into ingesting a fake mutagen that would keep him frozen in ice until Don finds a cure... And in the end, all he wanted was for April to be his friend and keep her safe... From us. Or, more specifically, from  **Don**. Guess all that time talking about her, wanting her to be back in his life…  **Sneaking** off to go see her and apologizing for ruining her life that caused her own father to mutate, made Tim a victim to being the go-to guy for my brother to pour his feelings out and wanted both he and April to not have Don hurt them, anymore._

_And so, he's once again a prisoner in our Lair. Unable to move, to think... To even speak the truth, that **we** end up hurting others the more we tried to help._

_…I ended up having to hurt Miwa, my own sister, by taking her down after my brothers freed me from her grasp... Her first night at leading the Foot Clan, wanting to get back at my brothers for betraying her, and **I** , her half-brother, defeated her in combat and, forcefully, demanded her to take her grudge onto me, not my brothers._

_The only thing that gave me hope to reach out to her and tell her the truth of her true parents, was when she told me her plan to bait my brothers to come for me and then force Master Splinter into coming to save us. I told her that Shredder lied, that he didn't take the life of her own mother... And she knew that I would never lie to her, not even to save my own life. While her loyalty proves to be too strong to break through, she did hear me out and seemed to take my words to consideration when telling her to believe me that my Sensei didn't take her mother from him._

_I didn't tell her that it was Oroku Saki; it isn't time to tell her… Though, I nearly slipped the tongue when I almost called her 'Miwa'. It's gonna be a bit harder for me to hold back on keeping the truth from her, but soon, it'll all be worth it when she see through the Shredder's lies._

_While one sister is still lost to me... I regained my other-sister... And the funny thing is, it's all thanks to Miwa. She had Kraang create an overgrown, almost human-looking Kraangdroid that apparently is called a Chrome Dome... And wanted it to target April. Instead, behind her back, Kraang programmed it to try and kidnap April to take it back to their lab. We were fortunate to prevent another kidnapping attempt on April and, in the end, she came back to the Lair and accepted our apology._

_She is back in our lives and together, we'll find her father and turn him back into a mutant._

_Sadly, Kirby left Hudson Valley a few days ago and none of the animals had seen him since. I just hope he didn't fly out farther, or he'll no longer be in New York and end up in another state that we won't be able to find… Though, I don't know which would be worse: He flies out further to another state, or Kraang had found him and are keeping him captive for a third time._

_As for our search, we found six canisters of mutagen together. Including the nine canisters the animals found, adding seven more they found two weeks later, twenty-two canisters are located and out of harms way... For the time being. I was able to get four of the sixteen canisters back to the Lair, without causing any suspicious from my brothers. I really need to get the rest to the Lair, on my own and having Don's scanner with me as a cover up to getting the remaining twelve canisters the animals hid and guarding._

_Don's been working double time with finding a retromutagen to cure Kirby O'Neil and with April back, he's been less stressful with his work... So far, his experiments have resulted four canisters to freeze, half to dissolve like evaporating water and a single canister to almost explode into his face. I'm very much scared that one of his failed experiments will cause him to get himself mutated and having a double-mutated humanoid-turtle is something we can't afford to waste time with, especially if that turtle is the only one who could be the only one to conduct the necessary experiment to finding a cure._

_Though, it seems after the incident with Tim, he still refuses to put the mutagen away. Because, even with putting multiple stickers and notes on a jar full of rejected retro-mutagen samples to show it's dangerous, Mikey claimed to not see the signs very clear and put some of the mutagen onto his face. Since he's hitting puberty, the mutagen caused serious acne problems to appear all over his body and, if we couldn't find a replaceable molecular centrifuge to help come up with a cure for the negative effects of the mutagen, our youngest-brother would end up exploding._

_We were able to find a centrifuge and Don was able to make the cure on time to save our brother… However, to our horror Bradford got double mutated... To me, it's horrifying to the sudden change he went through: His limbs got longer and his body_ _appeared thinner, but showed to be much stronger than his first mutation. The stones on his body seemed to have morphed with his skeletal structure, becoming two feet fangs and claws, with some spikes coming out of his limbs and fur, that seemed to also be the replacement for skin, even having some of his bones to be out of his body and acting like some form of armor._

_…He appeared to have mutated to a humanoid-wolf, a possible **werewolf**  in terms of speaking, the ancestor descendant of the dog... His form terrifies me, and not because of his new appearance. He's the first mutant to be double-mutated and even if Faunus hadn't warn me to not have me and/or my pack to get double-mutated, this form is more than enough to make it clear to never be near mutagen._

_Other than having an enemy to becoming much stronger and more dangerous should we ever cross paths with Bradford... Raphael has been getting more_ _frustrated lately, it's becoming very concerning. He did calmed down after our fight with Miwa, but since dealing with Timothy, his anger seemed to had grown back, twice the rage and starts picking fights with the others... I can't deal with it._

_With training, looking for mutagen, trying to treat my stomach issues and now my Insomnia, having to get my brothers to stop causing fuse with each other, even from idiotic reasons that isn't worth fighting for is causing my own stress level to making me sick. A few times of these days, I ended up vomiting my teas a few minutes before I end up falling asleep and takes longer for me to fall asleep, since the sedatives wouldn't have enough time to knock me out immediately from what little time it stays in my stomach._

_The others knew my health is declining from my sleep problems and stomach issues, that Sensei is having me stay in his room for the time being and try to help by performing Pressure Point sessions. They only give me brief comfort and then the nightmares come back to haunt me... Even Tang Shen, who comes to my dreams as much as possible, wasn't enough to help me with the darkness going on in my head._

_…I wish Faunus was here, right now. He would help me with my nightmares and his herbs are the only things to bring any comfort to my stomach… But, I have to do this on my own and until I can learn Root Bond to even make an attempt to see my Soul-Brother and Forest-Sister again, I'll have to take care of my issues on my own._

* * *

"Oh, yeah! Level Eighty-Three, dude." Michelangelo cheered, eyes glued to the arcade game as he rapidly kept pressing the buttons to continue shooting the computerized bad guys.

On the couch, Leonardo is playing a game of his own on the TV: Ōkami. He's having Amaterasu running through the snow of Wep'keer in search of the animals to feed them before following Kai, wanting to complete the game at a hundred percent and get all the trophies. He loved the art-style, the music, the graphics and story plot of the game. While it may not look as violent that many may think it doesn't show, the challenges, bad guys and bosses prove to make anybody think otherwise.

On his right-shoulder, Karasu stared at the screen. She found the game very amusing, especially to the part where Amaterasu found the Chicken Chinese Zodiac/Phoenix Constellation: Moegami. She even tried to mimic him one time and tried holding a blade in her talon when she couldn't find a replica for a Japanese tobacco pipe... After nearly getting herself stabbed when tossing the blade in the air and trying to catch it in midair after dive-bombing, she never tried to copy what she sees on TV, again... Not unless, Leonardo supervises her and helps her with timing and precision.

_*Bam!*_

"MIKEY!" Raphael's voice roared out for the orange-masked turtle, stomping out of his room.

_**Beta-Brother Raphael out for blood. Chi-Brother Michelangelo must cause something serious for rage to course through Kin's heart and mind.** _

From the volume of his voice, Leo knew the youngest is in deep trouble and paused the game, preparing himself to intervene should there be any problem.

On Raph's left-shoulder, Spike took comfort on his spot, a blank look on his face; even for a pet snapping-turtle, he must've gotten used to his caretaker's outburst.

"You got pizza stains all over my collection of Modern Ninja magazine. They're ruined!" The red-masked turtle yelled, holding up a magazine in his right-hand. Sure enough, there are indeed pizza stains on the front-cover of the magazine. If there's stains on the front, then there's surely more stains in the inside on other pages.

Leonardo glared at Michelangelo, disappointed that the youngest-turtle doesn't take care of other people's property. Even with his ADHD, he does have enough commonsense to take care of other people's stuff, whether he was using it, borrowing it or none at all.

"Dude, those things are, like, twenty years old. They're not exactly modern." The orange-masked turtle replied, not really caring about some comic he may or may not accidentally dropped his pizza on while trying to clean up with one hand and tried to hide it in Raph's room. He had hoped to make his older-brother think he did it sometime ago, or at least wouldn't notice for quite some time.

Clearly, his plan failed.

"They're vintage!" Raph yelled, angry that Mikey wasn't getting the point to the problem and mess he caused. "It took me six years to collect 'em… Six! Years!"

Ever the calm, casual, never-thinking-about-the-consequences-of-his-actions turtle he is, Mikey swiped the magazine out of his brother's hand.

"Chillax, bro. I'll clean it for ya."

To Raph, Leo, even Karasu's shock, the youngest-turtle started licking the magazine, as if getting the rest of the sauce and cheese from a paper-towel after heating a pizza pocket in the microwave... And he's enjoying it, from the taste of pizza sauce, lapping at the stain of food and thinking cleaning it up wasn't too much of a problem.

Unfortunately, Raphael didn't see his point of view. After setting Spike on a wooden crate that's meant to hold up a lamp when one of them wanted to read in the living-room, he grabbed for his ruined magazine, rolled it up and whacked Mikey in the head.

"Ow!"

"You mess up everything, Mikey." Raph accused, raising his magazine over his head, planning to whack him upside the head again... Until his big-brother, sensing it was time to intervene, grabbed at the arm.

The twins glared at each other, Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes challenging Emerald-green eyes.

"It's just stuff, Raph... Meager possessions. It shouldn't be worth having to beat our brother continuously in the head like a Piñata or a drum."

Raphael is appalled of his only big-brother standing up for their trouble-making brother, when he is clearly seeing what was going on and that the fault is all Mikey's fault.

"What about your precious comic-book collection, huh? You always stick up for Mikey. Try seeing my point of view for once."

Leo narrowed his eyes a bit more. In some way, his eyes flashed a bit more lighter.

"First off, I'm keeping those comics safe until somebody shows an interest on wanting them and will take better care of the design. I have no intention on keeping them." He explained, shocking his two brothers that he's planning on selling his own collection. "Second, I'm not taking either sides; yes, I'm standing up to you to protect Mikey. However, that doesn't mean he's going to get away, without being punished.  _-He released Raph's arm and turned to face Michelangelo, who crouched a bit low and still covered his head with both hands, shielding himself from Raph's attack.-_ Mikey, you've been told time and time again to respect other people's property. You knew those magazines you ruined are very important to Raph. Right?"

Nervously, Mikey nodded his head.

"Y-Yeah, but I-…"

"No. Do not speak until I'm finished. You knew that it was wrong to try and hide the truth from him, and yet you still chose to hide your mistake, whether it was an accident or on purpose. Is that correct?  _-Afraid on what his brother would do if he tried to explain himself, Mikey nodded his head again.-_ This will not go unpunished, Mikey. In order to fix your mistake, you're going to buy Raphael new magazines to replace his ruined one, out of your own allowance."

Raphael and Michelangelo were stunned by his words.

"What?!" Mikey cried out, eyes almost as wide as dinner plates, gaping at his big brother as if telling him he was banned from eating pizza for an entire month. "But, Leo, that's not fair! I don't even have that kind of money!"

Leo and Karasu knew that that was a complete lie, and the blue-masked turtle wasn't very happy of the youngest trying to avoid punishment of his neglect.

"Since you have more comic-books than you can read and a bunch of them you hadn't read in a good while, you can easily use them to get the money for Raph to buy himself new magazine, and then some.  _-Realizing he's been caught and being threatened to lose his own precious comic-collection, Michelangelo shook his head.-_ In that case, go buy him a replacement magazine for his collection. And the next time you decide to intrude into another person's room without their consent and hiding the damage you've caused to their belonging, consider your video tapes and action figures, forfeited and surrendered to be sold on the next bid on the online auction."

Fearing of losing his precious belonging, Mikey immediately ran to his bedroom to get the money he hidden inside his pillowcase to give to Raphael.

While the youngest ran to get the money, Raphael could only be stunned by what just happened. And while he knew that that won't be enough of a message to get through to the youngest to be respectful of other people's possession, the fact that Leo did in fact took his side and hold Mikey responsible for ruining his magazine... It proves to the red-masked turtle that the oldest isn't picking favorite and will hold any of them accountable for their own mistakes, and won't give any special treatment or any excuse to avoid punishment.

"…Leo," he managed to get out.

The blue-masked turtle turned to his younger-twin, his eyes no longer glaring.

"I know this won't make up for the mistake he made, let alone won't be the last he'll make. However, next time, instead of exploding and threatening to beat them to a pulp, make them see the errors of their ways and have them fix the mistake properly… Though, I don't recommend to continuously threatening to use their own belonging as hostage. Otherwise, Sensei will have to intervene and will end up punishing the both of you."

True to his words, he isn't picking sides with either Raphael and Michelangelo. However, he's making it fair for the both of them to be more considerate in the future and, in a way, for the hothead in the family to avoid being punished for something he didn't do wrong.

Just when they thought they'd taken care of one problem... Another came out of Donatello's Lab.

Firework-like balls of fires came shooting out through the open-doors, letting out high-whistling sounds and going through random directions in the air.

Startled, Karasu leaped in the air in a panic and let out screech of fear when her panicking mind isn't giving her a clear message on where to go.

 _ **"Attack! ATTACK! UNDER ATTACK! Must get out! GET OUT!" **_She screamed, almost getting hit by a blue-fireball if she didn't force herself to fly backwards, which ended up damaging Mikey's discarded skateboard.

Immediately, Leonardo grabbed her in the air and held her against his plastron before a reddish-pink fireball could get her from behind, crouching close to the ground and taking shelter behind the back of the couch.

The sounds going around him was like talon scratching through glass, from the top of the empire state building straight down to the bottom,  _without_  stopping. His enhanced hearing made the sound around him so high, he wanted to scream. To slam his skull against the wall. To head for the pool area and swim as far away from the Lair as possible, until the ringing and the high-whistling is gone.

He wanted to do so, so badly, but knew he can't just take off running without a thought to know where to go or leave his brothers and Sensei behind.

"SPIKE!" Raphael called out, trying to get to his pet snapping-turtle, who still sat sprawled on the crate where Raph left him, only to be prevented to reach him by the few fireballs before his face.

After setting Karasu down and sending a firm growl  _ **"Stay!"**_ , he lunged over the couch and sprung straight for the five year-old turtle.

At the same time, a yellow-fireball made the same direction for Spike as the blue-masked turtle was leaping forward to. Time went slow for the humanoid-wolf/turtle, as he and the yellow-fireball were racing for the defenseless turtle. Pushing himself on all-fours, he used every strength in his limbs to flung himself forward, putting himself in front of the fireball and making a grabbing attempt for Spike.

…The crate broke into splinter-like pieces, caused by the yellow-fireball. At the small-steps, Leonardo curled himself on his right-side... Held in the safety of his arms and against his plastron, Spike's shell.

As soon as the last of the fireball died down after hitting against the pillar, the snapping-turtle popped right out of his shell.

Relieved that the turtle is completely unharmed, Leonardo smiled down at the surprised turtle.

"You're okay, Spike." He whispered to the turtle, gently stroking his head. "You're okay."

Ever the quiet one, Spike simply leaned in to the touch. Not a single sound could be heard from the turtle, even when clearly distressed from nearly being blasted with a raging ball of fire.

His silent really was surprising, even concerning, to Leo, for as long as he could remember. Ever since he hatched, not once, has he ever heard Spike spoke a single word. It was very puzzling to the blue-masked turtle, especially since he's been able to understand other land-mammals for a very long time. It's possible, because of the pneumonia Spike sustained after hatching in a very cold environment and barely surviving from being flushed down a toilet as an egg, it could've done some damage to his vocal-cord to prevent him from making any sounds, let alone utter a word in the Tongue of Animal.

Whatever the reason could be for Spike's inability to talk, Leonardo can't say for sure. However, he has a feeling, in due time, he'll be able to speak.

"Spike!" Raphael called out, making his way to his big-brother and eyeing in worry for his pet-turtle.

Sitting up, Leonardo handed the snapping turtle over.

"He's all right, Raph." He informed his twin, smiling at the reunion between his brother and his companion. "A little shaken up, but other than that, he's completely unharmed."

See no signs of injuries or damage to his pet, Raphael hugged the snapping turtle to his plastron. As he held Spike, he sent his big-brother a very grateful gratitude on his face.

...Till the expression on his face turned from relief, to immediate concern and was instantly kneeling beside the blue-masked turtle.

"You're bleeding!" He cried out, his eyes zoning in on Leo's right-leg... Which had a large-red line over the skin...  _Blood_ seeping out of the wound, while the injury pulsed from the sudden burning sensation when his adrenaline died down. "You're hurt!"

It's a good thing Leonardo has a high tolerance for pain, or else he would be expressing great agony. Though, that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt him or is immune to pain.

Leo reassured his twin that he's fine but when he tried to stand, the wound sent a major pulse wave of protest and forced the blue-masked turtle to kneel back down to the ground. Raph and Mikey can clearly see he's not fine, and that his injury is much more serious than he's letting them on.

Karasu was instantly at his side, taking her spot on his right-shoulder to see the wound, herself. Her eyes flashed with deep concern and fear from the sight of blood.

"Wow." Coming out from his lab, Donatello leaned against the door, pulling up the goggles that shielded his eyes from the blast he caused to happen. "I did not see that coming. Is everyone okay?"

Angered that Don caused another exploding incident, with the results actually getting one of them wounded, Raphael stomped to the purple-masked turtle.

"What are you, crazy?!" He yelled, getting right into Don's face. "NO! We're NOT okay!"

Master Splinter came out from the dojo after his meditation was disturbed by the sound of explosion, wondering what was going on and the sudden disarray of their living room. When his nose picked up the scent of blood and saw his eldest clenching hard on his leg to slow the bleeding, he immediately came to Leo's aid. "What happened here?" He questioned his sons, removing his son's hands to examine the wound, himself.

Raph immediately spoke out.

"I'll tell you what happened, Master Splinter. Donnie almost blew us up,  _again_! And worse, he almost blew up Spike and Leo got hurt, because of it!"

Seeing the wound that his failed experiment caused to one of his brother's, Donatello felt immediately guilty.

"Leo, Raph, I'm really sorry. I-"

"Sorry doesn't cut it, this time, Don!" Raph cut off, shoving his brother aside and storming into his lab, grabbing the last canister of mutagen that, to his disgust, was resting next to a frozen mutant that used to be Timothy. "Until the mad scientist gets his act together, I'm holding this for safekeeping."

Despite the pain, Leo tried to get back on his feet. Splinter wouldn't allow him to move, keeping him pinned on the ground.

"Raph, be reasonable." He called out, worried from the thought of the canister breaking and his twin ending up getting mutated. "It isn't safe to have mutagen nearby, without keeping it secure."

His words falling on deaf ears as Raph continues making his way to his bedroom, leaving his family to be concern about his outburst.

"Man, that's my last canister of mutagen." Donatello grumbled, disappointed that he won't be doing more experiments to finding a cure with his older-brother keeping their last canister in his room and, after hearing the argument going on from Michelangelo ruining his stuff, he dares not to sneak into Raphael's bedroom and reclaim the canister.

Though, now wasn't the time to be pouting. Not when they have a mess to clean up, and Leo's leg needs to be attended to.

And so, with both Donatello and Master Splinter helping the blue-masked turtle to his lab, the genius turtle used disinfectant to keep the wound clean and twelve stitches to close the cut. With Leo's leg bandaged, the three turtles and their humanoid-rat father started cleaning the living-room.

However, barely two minutes into the cleaning, Master Splinter decided Raphael had enough time to put away the mutagen in his room and told Michelangelo to retrieve his brother to help them clean.

Leonardo, being mindful on the way he moves his injured leg, was mopping the floor near the pool-area. Karasu remained on his shoulder, watching the head of the mop going back and forth on the ground.

Small beads of sweat trickle down his face, both of the results from his injury, and his stomach getting upset. He can feel whatever food he was able to eat wasn't sitting right, and is taking every ounce of his strength to not go running for the bathroom and vomit again.

 _'Don't throw up,'_ he thought to himself.  _'Whatever you do, do not throw up!'_

_It'll only get worse if you keep fighting it. Thanks to Raph's decision to keep exploding, at the rate this is going for you, the mutagen in your stomach will make the symptoms worse and will start causing some form of damage to your organs._

_'I know, but I need to keep whatever food I can handle inside my stomach. I can't keep throwing up, because of the negative emotions going on in the Lair. I need to get over it, if I want to stop losing weight and keep up my strength.'_

_Let's hope Raph starts calming and, hopefully, your stomach problems won't worsen._

Stomping sounds made their way back to the living-room, and Leo knew which of his brothers is making that sound.

_'Please, Raph. Not now...!'_

"Sensei, this is completely unfair!" The red-masked turtle yelled, coming over to their father, who was sweeping around the couch. "Why should we have to clean up?! It's Donnie's mess!  _-To further his anger, he looked behind the humanoid-rat and saw his twin slightly hunched over his mop, trying to keep cleaning.-_ You're even making Leo clean, and he got hurt because of Don!"

Leo's feet started to feel shaky. His heart making a few fluttering beating against his plastron, as he felt himself starting to slightly pant. The blue-masked turtle knew they were warning signs.

 _'No… Not now…! I can't lose anymore meals than I already lost!'_ "Raph, it's all right." He reassured his red-masked twin, stopping the mop for a moment and clenching the wooden pole, his only line to focus his pain on while his stomach is getting upset. "We all need to help out with the mess, so we can use the living-room properly, before the explosion came in and made a mess. Please, Raph. We need your help on this; it'll make the job go quicker."

His words did little to calm Raphael's rage. In fact, all his words did was infuriated his brother even more. So much, that he stomped over to his older but shorter-twin, glaring down daggers that could be compared to becoming Superman's Heat Vision onto Leo's slightly hunched form.

While frightened by the rage, Karasu went to Leo's left-shoulder, crouched over and letting out a warning screech, ruffling her feathers to look bigger than she really is.

"Enough with the bullshit, Leo!" Raph yelled, ignoring the raven/crow hybrid's warning signs to stay away from  _their_  big-brother. "We both know that this is  _not_  all right!"

What he did next, startled the blue-masked turtle: Raphael, without taking notice how ill his brother is, snatched Leo's left-arm into his grasp, gripping tightly to the limb in his stronger-grasp, pulling him up to almost have their faces touching each other.

Karasu, scared by the sudden move her older-brother did, let out a distressed screech and flapped in the air, flying backwards in case a fight were to break out between the twins of the family.

Donatello and Michelangelo were at a complete loss, both dropping their cleaning equipment and running to their big brothers. However, Splinter, also surprised by his older-son's decision to grab onto Leonardo, held out a hand to his younger-sons to stop them in their tracks and slowly made his way to the two turtles.

"You keep saying that you're all right, when that's a complete lie!" Raphael continued to yell, slightly tightening his grip on Leo's arm, not caring that his grip is making his older-brother wince in pain and trying to pull himself free. "And even when you know that they're at fault for their screw-ups, you still find way to take their side and act as if it isn't a big deal, when it really is!"

The beating of Leonardo's heart is now banging against his eardrums, his vision already starting to blur and his stomach was doing flips. He knew that he can no longer push down the nausea and only have mere seconds to free himself and head for the bathroom, before they have another mess to clean up that'll fuel the fire even more.

_ He's not going to let go! You need to get free, now! _

Slightly panting, Leo pulled at Raph's wrist.

"Raph, please, calm down." The blue-masked turtle begged, already starting to walk to the direction of the bathroom and trying to get free.

All his actions did, was only have Raphael clenched tighter on his arm, forcing out a slight whimpering sound.

"No! I WON'T calm down, Leo! Not until you admit that you're not all right!"

Raphael, so lost in his rage, couldn't see the pain he's administrating to his own brother. The damage he's causing to his only big brother, furthering the distress and agony of his already ill state.

Before he would do something else to further Leonardo's clear signs of stress, Master Splinter came forth and lightly trapped to fingers against the right-side of his neck. Barely adding any source of pressure to the spot, the red mask turtle immediately lost any feeling to his arm and, to his own surprise, felt his body go slack and fell on his shell.

He made a few grunting sounds, most likely in some form of pain or discomfort, trying to regain movement to his body but unable to even move his fingers.

Towering over him, his father stare down at him, his eyes flashing clear signs of disappointment and disapproval of his behavior. He opened month, about to say something to his second child.

...Till, from behind the humanoid-rat, Leonardo let a large gasp and fell to his knees. His left-arm, covered with three bruise marks that, no doubt, were made by Raph, curled over his stomach. His Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes are wide, panicking and clear signs of pain can be seen in his gaze.

Donatello and Michelangelo ran to his side, kneeling next to him and checking over him. However, before Don could even get started to see the bruises or even ask what was wrong, as quick as a whip, not caring what they would say, Leonardo sprang forward. Holding his injured arm against his plastron and his right-leg having some problems moving without agitating the wound, ran to direction of the bathroom, using his remaining two limbs to carry him to his destination.

Six seconds later, his family could hear the sound of vomiting coming from the bathroom, followed by desperate gasp for breath before he would go right back to emptying his stomach.

His throat burned from partly digested food and stomach acid bile traveling up his neck, and straight out of his mouth. More than once, he's glad to have only one stomach instead of two, like wolves are born with. Otherwise, the situation would probably be far worse and should his pack find out he had two stomachs, possibly around the time the mutated-squirrels came to their Lair and couldn't get one of them out of his body, it would be very hard for the blue-masked turtle to explain his extra organ without bringing up his wolf-blood.

After twenty seconds of puking his guts out, he slumped down to the cold floor, panting for air and curling himself into a tight ball. He felt so cold, his body shivering and wanting to find more warmth, but he knew he's burning up and needs to bring down his temperature. He hope laying on the ground will help relieve him of some of his abnormal body temperature; he doesn't think he can bring himself to muster the strength to put himself in a cold bath, not without running the risk of possibly falling asleep.

Through the floor, he can hear faint vibrations coming his way. He knew it's from his brothers and Master Splinter. And right now, he didn't want to see them. Not when he's like this... And yet, he can't really do anything right now.

Hands like his removed him off the ground and placed him against a plastron. From the faint smell of motor oil and hand sanitizer, he's laying against Donatello.

"Leo, can you here me?"

The high sound of brother's voice made him wince.

_'With a voice as loud as Don's, even a deaf person can hear him.'_

With his voice still sore from throwing up, Leo answered with a silent nod. He clamped his eyes shut, feeling a bit irritated when near the bright light shining Don over him.

A hand rested over his brow. The hand belonged to Master Splinter, feeling five-fingers and thick wrappings resting against his skin instead of three fingers.

"He is very warm," the humanoid-rat's voice boom in Leo's eardrums.

He felt himself being lifted off the ground, which made him force out a groan of pain when the movement bothered his leg and felt his limb being pressed against his carrier's body.

" _ **Watashi o yurushite**_  (forgive me), my son." Splinter apologize, and already started taking the blue-masked turtle out of the bathroom and, to Leo's guess, to his sensei's own bedroom to rest.

As they moved, Leo's nose picked up a very strong scent that almost made him jump right out of Master Splinter's hold and make a beeline for the source, if the father didn't keep a tight grip on his child and the teenager's fatigue want already sending him to sleep.

_'This scent... It smells like-… **Kin**.'_

* * *

_Something is wrong... **Very** wrong. He knows something is wrong; when something isn't right, his first instinct on what to do when something isn't right, is to run. And that's what he's doing right now. Running._

_He doesn't know where he's going, for there is no path within the darkness, but he continues to run forward to get away from whatever is wrong._

**Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!**

_It's footsteps were more like sledgehammer shattering through concrete, but there's no mistaking that the creature is getting closer._

**_'Keep running, Leo... KEEP RUNNING!'_ **

_In the back of his mind, he knew he can't escape from whatever that's chasing him. He also knew that he can't keep running; his body is going to give out and if he pushes his body to keep running until he collapses, there won't be any way for him to fight or defend himself when the creature finally catches up to him._

_…Then, without warning, something made a grab for his right-leg and pulled him back. His body came crashing down to the ground and his body slid backwards, as the fifteen year-old tried to stop going backwards by clawing at the unseen ground beneath him and failing to stop himself._

_Claws dug into his flesh, forcing the humanoid-wolf/turtle to yelp in pain. The pain grew worse when the figure pulled his body off the ground and left dangling upside-down in the middle of the air. Blood trickled down his body, the scent and taste of copper entering his nose and mouth before dripping off of him._

***Grrrrrrrrrooooowwwwlllll...***

_The signal of anger made Leonardo pull his head to rest his chin against his plastron, drawn to see what was it that's keeping him captive and injuring him to spill blood._

_…The figure is nothing but a shadow to him but the eyes of the creature held so much loathing and desire to kill him, made him come to the conclusion that this figure has a major_ _vendetta towards him._

**"Not so mighty and powerful, now. Are you?"**

_The voice sent shivers down his spine. The volume of the voice made him think of one creature that nearly claimed his life five years ago… However, he knew very well that the figure, itself, isn't White Death._

_This creature is something else, an unknown that Leonardo, himself, doesn't know... But will surely figure who, in due time._

_The_ _appendage pulled him higher, making him be face-to-face, still upside-down, with his capture, staring into venom-like eyes._

_The figure raised it's other appendage in the air, ready to strike the humanoid-wolf/turtle, but not after giving the turtle a final message._

**"You're getting everything that's coming to you!"**

_A mighty roar rang in Leo's ears and, only able to look up at the three-fingered claws, watch as the attack came down on him._

_And then, he knew nothing more but the darkness._

* * *

"Gah!"

His eyes snapped open and his body shot right up from under the covers, kneeling and on his hands and knees to keep him up. He panted for air, sweat beading down his face, with the expression on his face showing a very clear sign of fear… No, of pure  _terror_.

Leo's right-leg, which he noticed from the fabric of bandages wrapped over his injury, throbbed from the sudden movement. He also felt an odd tugging from the bandages rubbing against his injury, which warned him to not move his leg that will cause him to tear his stitches.

Footsteps, coming from outside of the Shoji door, alerted the scared, injured humanoid-wolf/turtle that somebody heard his distress cry and is coming to check on him... And honestly, he doesn't want to see someone.

…He  _needed_  to check on his brothers, and the one coming to check on him isn't one of his brothers.

The door snapped open and Master Splinter immediately came to his son's side, kneeling beside Leonardo and resting his paws on the turtle's shoulders.

"My son, are you all right?" The fifty year-old father didn't receive an answer to his question.

The only thing the blue-masked turtle did was turn his head to stare eye-to-eye with his sensei, his Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes completely unfocused with everything… Except, for the fear his dream made him experience.

And the need to see his brothers, to know they're safe and the creature in his dream doesn't harm them, gave him the strength to get to shake off his sensei and quickly run for the living-room on all-fours.

_**"Musuko!"** _

Leo ignored the call of his sensei, getting to the living-room as quickly as he could and finding the room being empty. His heart is racing.

_'Where... Where are they?!'_

In desperation, he got up to stand on his feet and lifted his beak as high as he could to sniff the air.

The scent of his brothers told him that they left a little over an hour ago... But the scent he smelt before blacking out, is still strong and coming from Raphael's bedroom.

_ That scent… There's no mistaken it…! _

Immediately, Leo stomped his way to their bedroom and when standing before his twin's bedroom, which had a stop sign nailed at the front of it, yanked it over... He could've sworn that his heart stopped, as the air in his lungs froze and turned to ice.

There, in the middle of the ground, is what he feared would happen when Raph insisted on keeping the one thing that makes him worry for his brothers' safety in his own bedroom: A broken canister of mutagen, with said mutagen pooled underneath the canister.

All Leonardo could do is stare down at the broken canister.

Behind him, he heard Master Splinter finally catching up to him, unable to hear his words but were then cut off when, no doubt, saw what his eldest son is staring down at.

"Is that-…?"

The blue-masked turtle nodded his head, not facing the humanoid-rat when all he could do is stare at the mutagen. It was then, as he looked around in his brother's room, to see if there are any signs of damage or disturbance to indicate his biggest fear of one of his own brothers getting double mutated, that he knew there is already a problem.

_'Something is wrong... Something feels… **Missing**  from inside. But, what?'_

A took a few sniff in the air and, while separating Splinter's scent, all he could smell is Raphael's scent… However, he noticed an odd scent that he knew doesn't belong to his brother.

_'This scent is off. It smells like Raph's natural scent, but it smells heavier and too thick.'_

**_This scent... Smells of... Mature Male!_ **

His Instinct's own discovery was very startling to the blue-masked turtle.

_'"Mature Male"? As in, an adult? But Raph isn't an adult, yet! We hit puberty at the age of thirteen, and it won't be until another six years, at most, until we fully become adults! I mean, unless we were normal turtles, we would've reached maturity between the ages of five and eight.'_

_Where's Spike?_

His Conscience's question brought great worry to Leonardo when he realized there's no sign of Raphael's pet turtle.

He barely took a step into his brother's room, when he stepped on something made of paper and when he looked down and removed his foot from what he stepped on... His heart banged against his chest.

It's a single photograph of himself, Donatello and Michelangelo, smiling at the camera and to the person taking their picture... Covering all three of Raph's brothers, large claw-marks scratched through the picture. Two of the marks covered Don and Mikey's faces, while the last claw-mark went across Leo's throat.

_**"You're getting everything that's coming to you!"** _

The cold feeling came back. Leonardo immediately realized what his dream was telling him, and he has a feeling that he knows exactly who the figure in his dream was.

He turned to Master Splinter, flashing fear and concern to the fifty year-old father.

"The guys are in grave danger."

* * *

 **Up on the Surface World…  
** A few cars and pedestrians strolled calmly on the streets and sidewalk of the city, none finding any worry or fear to take shelter from indoors. And so, none were too concern or suspicious when seeing a large-dog casually walking on it's own in the city, carrying two words on it's back* and a wrapped bandage around it's leg, slightly limping.

Because of their ignorance, no human had enough brain smarts to realize that the dog is actually a wolf... A humanoid-wolf/turtle, to be precise. And Leonardo is very grateful that nobody find him odd, especially when his mask can be mistaken very easily for a regular bandana and show signs of being a pet, instead of a stray.

Just the thought of them thinking he's an owned property in the eyes of the law made the black-wolf's blood boil in rage... And yet, he cannot fight or argue with the fact that, in reality and in the very beginning, he and his brothers were bought and made to being Hamato Yoshi's pet. So therefore, even as mutated-humanoid animal-hybrids, he and his brothers are still, in terms, property owned by their sensei.

 _'But not forever,'_ he thought to himself.  _'When the time is right, I won't be living under the human's laws and will be free from the burden of being labeled as some property.'_

And while he at times wished his Conscience and Instinct could still talk to him while as a wolf, when venting in anger or conversation that always plagued his mind, these moment he's truly happy to the quiet response that goes in his head when in a form of another.

His ears caught the sound of flapping wings, followed by the feeling of talons resting on top of one of his swords' scabbards. He knew it was Karasu; many of the birds wouldn't dare go below buildings' rooftops level, unless they were at the park. Since the incident with the squirrel getting mutated and with Kraang most likely out on the streets, they all taken caution to not remain on the ground in public areas.

 _ **"Anything?"**_ He asked the raven/crow-hybrid, making his way to a dark alleyway to have some privacy for their conversation.

Walking over to roost on his left-shoulder, Karasu leaned forward to look up at her big brother.

 _ **"Nothing,"**_ she replied.  _ **"I lost them at around the Fortune Cookie Factory, to take care of the vermin from causing another 'accidental' fire."**_

Leo lifted part of his life and let out a low growl.

_**"And what became of them?"** _

_**"They paid with their lives, for almost taking the life of anybody within the area.** -His nose detect the trace of blood from the black-bird, confirming she permanently taken care of the problem with the squirrels.-  **I have the crows and ravens pass on the word to give out the location of our brothers' whereabouts. So far, there hasn't been anything... However** -Leo turned his eye to stare down at Karasu, gaining his full attention on whatever she's going to tell him that could be good news.-  **Some alley cats passed on the news of finding another canister."**_

He can tell that something is wrong. Meaning, the canister can very well be in unwanted hands of either Kraang or humans.

_**"Where?"** _

* * *

**Twenty-Four Minutes Later...  
** "Well... That's just great..." Leonardo stated in a sarcastic manner, looking through the window of an apartment building from across the street. Through the window, he sees a six-year-old girl, playing what looks to be her version of a tea party with her stuffed animals and few dolls at her mini-table.

...In the center of the table, the canister of mutagen stood tall and proud... To the turtle, it almost as if it were teasing him, mocking him that he can't get to it, not without blowing his cover and revealing himself to the human-child.

 _ **"At least you found a canister, instead of walking aimlessly through the city, trying to separate scent within your surroundings."**_ Karasu stated, hoping to lighten Leo's irritated mood.

"Perhaps, but it's going to be hard to getting the mutagen away from a human-pup. At least, not without provoking her to scream or cry for her parents." Leo replied, glaring as he watch the girl deciding to uncap the canister and pour a small amount of mutagen into hey tea cup.

Karasu started to get anxious when she, too, saw what the girl just did.

_**"You must decide quickly, Leo! Otherwise, you and the others will have one more mutant to worry about."** _

_And the worst part? A human child will have her life ruined by not only Kraang, but also your brothers._

That thought made Leonardo's blood boil. Human or mutant, a child is still a child and, as a child, they are more innocent and more pure than any human would remain long before they even reach adulthood. Their innocent nature gives people hope for a better future, a promise for hope, a new beginning, like Spring.

And while many animals still cannot find it inside of them to coexist with humans, they can all agree on one thing: Human-Younglings are pups, and pups must be protected and watched over from all harm and threat.

As the girl slowly brought her cup to her lips... The humanoid-wolf/turtle reacted on instinct.

He pulled out his grappling hook, tossed it to the ledge of the rooftop of the apartment building and, giving it a few tugs, leapt in the air. Before he made contact with the wall, he held his feet out to stop himself from slamming into the building and forced the window open.

Before the little girl even realized that her window opened, Leo flung himself into hey bedroom and kicked the plastic tea cup out from the girl's hand. The cup flew straight for the door and, upon impact, broke into pieces. The mutagen that was inside the cup, pooled into a little puddle on the carpet floor and, after a few seconds, dissolved quickly to nothing, as if it never was on the ground in the first place.

Seeing the mutagen disappearing into nothing, made Leo sigh in relief.

_'And that's one problem we won't have to worry about.'_

_Perhaps, but now what are you going to do about the girl?!_

Bringing up the new problem he now has to deal with, Leonardo could only stare down at the slightly surprised girl.

He was at a complete loss on what to do, now.

_'Why didn't I consider going to Don's Lab, and grabbing a smoke-bomb?'_

_Because you were in too much in a hurry to think clearly in grabbing one, and more concern on finding your brothers as quickly as possible._

Having no idea on what to do right there and then, Leo waited for the little girl to scream and cry out for her parents.

...Only, that didn't happen. Instead, her response was quite shocking.

"Would you like some tea, Mr. Turtle?" She kindly offered, raising a new tea cup to him, this one not holding any mutagen inside of it.

...Leo could do nothing but stare at her.

_'…Does... Does she not see a giant, humanoid-turtle before her?'_

_ She clearly sees you as you are. Perhaps, her parents hadn't taught her the "Stranger Danger" rules… That, or maybe, because of her age... She may think you're some imagination that came out of her head, like magic. Say something to her, and make sure to have her believe you're a  _ _ figment of her imagination. _

"…Umm…" He cleared his throat a bit, and finally found his voice to get the words out. "I'm sorry for kicking your tea cup from out your hand, Little One."

The girl pouted at his apology.

"I'm not little. You're just bigger than me, Mr. Turtle." She replied, standing out of her seat and lightly stomping her foot. "And my name isn't 'Little One', it's 'Chloe'."

The blue-masked turtle turned his head to stare at the door, hoping that neither her mother or father heard her outburst, before staring back down at the pouting six-year-old girl.

_'Think, Leo. What do little girls have a deep interest in.'_

"Forgive me, Miss Chloe-"

"No.  _Just_ Chloe." Chloe interrupted, stomping her foot against the ground, again.

"Uh, sorry. Chloe." He quickly repeated, earning a firm nod from the child. "I didn't mean to sound as if I were making fun of you. You see-…"

He immediately looked around in her bedroom, hoping his mind will find something to use that would make her see her as a friend and forgive him for calling her little. All he could find was her liking for the color pink, tea parties, some dolls in dresses and flowers.

Just when he was about to say something about flowers... Did he noticed some butterfly-like stickers all over her light-lamp, along with some glow-in-the-dark wall stickers hanging on the ceiling over her bed.

His mind immediately concocted an idea.

"You see, I called you 'Little One', by miss identification."

His words made Chloe confused.

"Identi-… What is that?"

He smiled gently to her question, kneeling down to be as even level with her as possible.

"It's another word meaning to describe a person's sense of identity with someone or something. I, unfortunately, mistaken you for somebody else. For you see, I thought you were  _her_."

That caught her attention.

"'Her'? Who's 'her'?" She asked, leaning forward and resting both her arms on Leo's left-arm, lightly jumping on the balls of her feet to demonstrate her wanting to know what he knows about this mystery person.

"Well... You see, there is princess."

Chloe gasped in shock.

"A  _princess_?"

_ Good. You're getting her excited, but you better go ahead and tell her, before she gets too impatient from the suspense. _

_'Right.'_  "I come from a far away place, where I've been told there's a princess who can help me find something missing that's lost to our queen. And she told me that this princess has yellow-hair, a pink-bow and blue-eyes. And so, when I saw you, I immediately assumed that you were Little One, the Butterfly Princess."

Leonardo can see the girl's young mind taking his words to heart

"You thought  _I'm_  a princess?  _Really_?" Chloe asked, looking straight into his Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes to have him answer her question with the right answer. And to her delight, Leonardo bowed his head.

"Of course, Butterfly Princess. My queen never lies when she tells us about her Little Butterfly Princess, let alone mistaken any princess for another. And since you clearly match what the princess looks like, you must be the Butterfly Princess I sought for who will help us find what was lost to her Majesty."

She let out a giggle of pure happiness... And her laughter made Leonardo's heart quiver with…  _Joy._ Complete, neverending joy from just hearing the happiness of the child he just met and is lying to get her to trust him.

 _'I do hate to lie to such an innocent child.'_  He thought, as he lifted his head and smiled kindly back to her. _'Yet, it makes her happy to hear somebody view her to be very important and so long the lie doesn't hurt her, then I'll play along with the lie. However, I need to get the mutagen away from her.'_

"Well, Mr. Turtle, if you need my help, then I'll help you. What is it your queen lost?" Chloe asked, crossing her arms behind her back and smiling sweetly to the fifteen year-old before her.

He pointed a finger to the canister of mutagen.

"That, Chloe, is what the queen lost." He answered, making the little girl stare at her newly bought Tea/lava lamp. "That there is something for the queen to make her feel  _-He hesitated for a few seconds to come up with an idea, till he thought about his own tea and treat it like medication.-_  ...Better! When she's ill or very weak, she drinks it and makes her feel better."

Chloe immediately got an answer to what he's trying to describe the mutagen.

"You mean like medicine?"

Leo nodded.

"Exactly, like medicine. You see, one of her subjects accidentally lost it, while trying to get it back to the kingdom, and we've been searching high and low for it. And now that it's been found, I need to take her medicine back to the kingdom and help the queen get better from her illness."

"Oh!" Believing his lies, Chloe was stunned to hear how the 'queen' lost her 'medicine' in the first place. "She must be very sick, if she had to have somebody else to get the medicine for her."

Leo nodded his head.

"Very much, so." He said. "If it's possible, Chloe, may I bring the medicine back to me to my land to help the queen get better? It would mean a lot to everybody, if we can get back what was lost to us."

In her young mind, Chloe very much wanted to help the turtle and let him take her new tea/lava lamp… However, as a child, she didn't want to give away what was hers. Not when her father just bought it for her to keep, and do whatever she wants to do with it.

"…You want to take it away?" She asked, walking over to her small-table and holding the canister in her arms, staring at the cool mixture of Aquamarine-green dancing and twirling inside the container. "But-... I like my new toy. My daddy bought it, for  _me_. You lost it! That means I can keep it!"

The blue-masked turtle had a feeling this would happen.

_'While children are innocent to the darkness of the world, how they're being raised and/or because they don't grasp on easily to be willing to surrender what's their's, they'll end up falling back to acting and behaving as they are. And while I can easily take it away from her, I'll run the risk on being sighted by her parents, the moment she makes a distress sound.'_

_Since she's following the Finders Keepers Rule,_ _she'll probably be willing to give it up for a trade._

_'Out of the question! I'm not going to give her one of my ninja weapons, that she'll use for a toy; she can hurt herself, or somebody else. Plus, how else is she going to explain how she got a weapon?'_

_ …True… Though, perhaps you can come to another agreement that she'll be willing to surrender the mutagen to you. _

He knew it isn't going to be easy; many children do tend to give up belongings for other items that aren't of any value or even toys to entertain them for very long, some children can be very well picky on what they want.

It's not going to be easy… But, he's willing to do whatever it takes to have the little girl, willingly, give him the canister and not be upset.

"…Well, when you put it like that, that does sound reasonable. However, my queen really needs her medicine.  _-He pretended to ponder on what to do, catching the girl's_ _curiosity on what he was going to do with the problem he has.-_ …Well, in that case, Chloe. How about a trade?"

The girl's blue-eyes sparked in interest.

"A trade?" She repeated.

Leo smiled at her.

"That's right. A trade.  _-He walked over to her and kneeled before her.-_ I don't have anything on me, that would make a great substitute for your new toy. But, what I can offer you, is to grant your request and do what you want to do, until you're satisfied enough to let me take the medicine back to the queen."

She clearly seemed to like where this was going.

"…Really?"

"Really,  _really_." Leo replied, already having an idea on what the little girl will want him to do for her, as a bright smile broke upon her face.

 **Thirty Five Minutes, Later…  
** "I say, Chloe, this tea is quite lovely." Leo complimented of the imagining tea that he pretends to have in his empty empty cup, holding out the smallest finger he has, as he pretends to sip at his cup.

"Why, thank you, Mr. Turtle. I made it all by myself, and worked really hard on making it perfect. I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed the tea." Chloe politely thanked, pretending to drink tea in her empty cup as well, enjoying her imaginating tea party with the blue-masked turtle. "I wish I can offer you some honey Mr. Turtle, but I'm afraid Teddy ate the whole thing before the party even started."

Said 'Teddy' say in-between the two, not moving from it's spot in the chair it sat in and kept staring straight at nothing.

"Oh, it's all right, Chloe, Teddy. He must have loved honey so much, that I can't fault him for wanting the honey. Maybe next time, we'll have extra honey for us to have for our tea, while Teddy can help himself to the rest. How about that, Teddy?" Leo asked the stuff animal, knowing he'll be receiving no answer from the toy but doesn't want to upset Chloe by not playing along with her imagination.

Chloe, also, turned to her stuffed-bear, before looking back to Leo.

"Teddy said 'He would like that idea very much', Mr. Turtle."

The two enjoyed with their little tea party for a few more minutes, until the two were interrupteda few knocks on the other side of the door.

 _"Chloe, it's time to stop playing. It's bedtime."_ The voice is a male, clearly being the girl's father.

While he should head for the window or find a place to hide should the adult consider entering Chloe's bedroom, Leonardo can somehow feel that he won't come in.

Chloe slightly pouted by her father's words to stop playing.

"Aww, but Daddy-!" She called out, wanting to keep playing tea party with her new 'imaginary friend'.

_"No buts, Chloe. It's a school night, Sweetie, so you need to get some rest for school tomorrow. All right? I love you, Honey."_

And just like that, footsteps could be heard walking away from Chloe's bedroom door. The two stared at the door for a few more seconds and when they heard the sound of another door opening and closing, they turned and stared at each other.

While clearly not satisfied of her game to be called to a fault, the little girl sat her cup on her little table and went to her dresser to get changed.

Wanting to give her some privacy to change into her pajamas, Leonardo turned his shell to face her, staring at the wall.

_'While I'm glad for the game to finally come to an end... The way her father chose to call out to her behind her door, instead of knocking and asking to enter and to properly tell her goodnight, that's not a very good way to interact with your own child.'_

_Every parent is different when raising their own children, but you do have a point. The way that he told her that he loves her, doesn't really sound very loving for his child. He didn't bother to check on her, let alone take her through the city in the middle of the night when she has school the next day._

**_...Young's Sire not good Sire? Not raise Human-Pup right?_ **

_'Can't jump to conclusions, not without learning the truth. However, right now, it's time to wrap up my stay and get the canister.'_

When he heard the creaking sound of the metal spring moving from within her mattress, Leonardo returned and saw the little girl already getting under the covers. Chloe has a clear look of disappointment for their fun being cut off... Yet, in her eyes, they showed the signs of sadness.

As if she was hoping her dad would come in, and see her off to sleep. Instead, he just called out to her to go to sleep and said a quick I love you, that didn't even sound genuine enough for the girl to feel any love from his tone of voice.

The blue-masked, hoping to cheer her up, brought Teddy from his seat and, after making his way to get small-bed, handed the stuffed-animal to the little girl.

Seeing her toy held out to her, she smiled up at the turtle and embraced her bear.

"Thanks for playing with me, Mr. turtle." She replied, letting out a yawn but refusing to lay down to rest. "Can you come back tomorrow and play tea party with me, again?"

To her request, Leonardo gave her a sad smile. He knows that he has to end her fun, and have to tell her that he can no longer see her... No matter how much the two had fun together, let alone how much joy gave him when interacting with the six-year-old as if she was his own child.

"I'm sorry, Chloe, but I need to go home and help the queen get better." He tried to explain to her, though his heart grew heavy when seeing her look ready to put on crocodile tears that'll soon turn into real tears.

"But, I want you to come back and play with me! Please?" She begged, tossing her bear to the corner of the bed and wrapping her arms around the suddenly stunned turtle, hugging him as tightly as she could. "You made me so happy. You wanted to come and play with me, than Daddy wants to work and not spend time with me. You even call me a princess, and made me feel special… Like, you  _really_  care about me!"

He felt tears gliding down his skin and heard small sniffling sounds coming from the little girl he now held in his embrace, slowly rocking back and forth and gently patting her on the back to comfort her.

_She feels neglected, as if she doesn't matter that much to spend time with._

**_…Pup only speaks of Sire... Why Pup not speak of Matriarch?_ **

It was very puzzling to the blue-masked turtle, though there are a few ideas to why Chloe doesn't speak about her own mother... And one of those thoughts made him hope to not being true, for the child's sake.

Right now, he needs to help this poor girl see that she's not being forgotten or pushed off to the side.

"…Your Daddy does love you," he told her.

The little girl shook her head to his words.

"No, he doesn't."

To this, he pulled her off his shoulder to make her look into his eyes, but kept her within his hold.

" _Yes,_ he  _ **does**_." He pressed on and this time, he's not going to make her say, otherwise, until he tries to explain to the six-year-old why her own father won't spend time with her... He just hoped that whatever he tells her, is the truth. "Your father loves you, so very much, Chloe, that he's doing everything in his abilities to make sure you have a happy and healthy life. He wants nothing more than to play with you, spend time with you and tell you, like he did right now, every single day, that he  ** _loves_**  you… However, because he has grown-up work that needs his attention more, he can't be allow to drop what he's doing and do whatever the both of you want to do, no matter how much he wants to. If he's too busy to play or spend time with you, that doesn't mean he doesn't love you, anymore. It just means he has to take care of important business that needs his attention, before he can stop and be with you. Do you understand what I'm telling you?"

Chloe, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her Powerpuff Girls pajamas, stared into his Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes. She still looked sad, but appears to be grasping on to what he's trying to tell her, as much as her young mind is able to process within her thoughts.

"…I think I do," she said. "Daddy can't always play with me, when he has to take care of business stuff he has to do for work. But, he's doing it, because he loves me and when he's done, he'll be free to spend time with me... Just like how you can't stay with me, because you have to work on taking care of the queen. Right?"

Leonardo chuckled at her answer, feeling quite proud of her understanding to his explanation.

"That's right," he said. "But, no matter what, even when we live in separate worlds, that doesn't mean we aren't friends, Little One. Always remember, Princess Butterfly, that you're truly loved and won't ever be forgotten. Also, cherish and enjoy every moment you have with your friends and family, and you'll always know that you truly are precious. And should something be bothering you, go talk to your father and tell him how you're feeling. Can you do that for me, Chloe?"

Letting out another yawn, the little girl nodded her head and leaned forward to give the turtle another hug. While doing so, she allowed him to gently lay her in bed and pull the covers over her to properly tuck her in.

"I will, Mr. Turtle." She promised, getting herself settled to sleep. "Mr. Turtle, before you go and take the medicine to the queen, can you do one more thing for me?"

"…Anything, Chloe."

Slightly squirming in her spot, she gave him her best puppy-eye look, which easily rivaled Michelangelo's own looks.

"Could you... Sing me a lullaby? Please? My Mommy used to sing to me, whenever I get lonely."

Leonardo's heart went out to her, taking her words to account that she, indeed, lost one of her parents, like he feared to being the case. And while it was a simple request, he didn't really know much lullaby songs… Though, there is one that he felt would be very fitting for the six-year-old.

"I do know one lullaby… But, it's in a language you won't be able to understand in." He warned, thinking of other songs that are in English and appropriate for children to here.

She simply smiled at him.

"I don't mind," she said. "Whatever song you sing, I'll like it."

Her honest response to wanting to hear him sing, even if she doesn't understand what it means, really intrigued the turtle... And nervous.

While he would, on occasion, sing with the animals or to himself in solitude, he never once sang a song to another individual. Not even to his own brothers, or Master Splinter... Until now.

Gently clearing his voice and taking cleansing breath... Leonardo sang.

 _Chīsana chō o tobu  
_ (Fly little butterfly)

 _Mayoi chīsana chō ni  
_ (Go astray little butterfly)

 _Nani mo anata no tsubasa o funsai shinaide kudasai  
_ (May nothing shatter your wings)

 _Muryō no chīsana chō_  ni  
(Be free little butterfly)

 _Tsuyoi chīsana chō_  ni  
(Be strong little butterfly)

 _Kaze ga anata o ie ni_  hakobukara  
(Because the wind carries you home)

 _Dare mo anata ga utau no o kiite wa naranai  
_ (No one should hear you sing)

 _Saigo no o wakare ga shinda toki  
_ (When the last farewell is dead)

 _Anata no yume ya omoide o mamotte kudasai_  
(Please protect your dreams and memories)

 _Watashi no ai wa itsumo anata ni tsudzukukara  
_ (Because my love always follows you)

 _Sayōnara chīsana chō  
_ (Goodbye little butterfly)

 _Oyasumi chīsana chō  
_ (Good night little butterfly)

 _Tsuki ga anata o ie ni yobu_  
(The moon calls you home)*

By the time he finished singing, the girl was already deep in her sleep. A gentle smile can be seen on her face, a clear indication that she loved the song, even if she wasn't awake for the rest of the part.

Smiling down at the little girl, Leo gently brushed part of her hair away from her face before getting off of her bed and leaving her bedroom, taking the canister with him.

_'Hopefully, the song will bring her some comfort, even if it's only temporary.'_

_ After that talk you had with her, I think she'll be more open to her father about her problems… However, from the way she spoke about her mother that one time, she may still experience being lonely from time to time. _

_'True… Maybe, Chloe should have a companion to keep her company. I'll talk with some of the strays and see if any of them will be willing to live with them, so Chloe won't be lonely and bring both her and her father close.'_

_From the condition of their home, might be best to have a cat for the job; a dog may cause more problems and messes for her father to deal with, probably to cause a bigger rift between father and daughter._

_'Agreed. For now, we need to take the mutagen back to the Lair and continue looking for-'_

_**Beta-Brother Raphael!** _

The name his Instinct gave to his twin brother, pulled the turtle from his thoughts and, when catching Raph's scent and hearing the sound of his battle cry, turned his head to the direction where his red-masked brother can be located.

…With him, a seven foot, spiked-shelled, raging snapping turtle.

 _ **"Leo!"**  _Above him, Karasu hovered over him. Fear can be seen within her onyx-eyes.  _ **"Mikey and Don are injured! Sharp Beak hurt them! He wants to kill you three! Raph is fighting him! You need to help!"**_

Leonardo glared down at the larger-turtle fighting his brother… Or, more specifically,  _their_  brother.

_'All that time Raph interacts with him, he's practically our brother… Our **big**  brother*.'_

Below him, he watched as the turtle grabbed for both of Raphael's Sais and tossed them off the roof they stood on.

"Ha! It's over, Raphael. You've lost!" A rough, gruff voiced called out, coming from the turtle that was once Spike.

Setting the canister down, Leonardo pulled out both his swords and immediately jumped down from the rooftop of Chloe's home, running towards the black-masked turtle.

"SPIKE!" He yelled, charging at the turtle from behind to grab his attention away from his twin.

When the giant turtle turned from the call of his old name, he left himself open for Leo to deliver a powerful ramming against his plastron. He staggered back, allowing the blue-masked turtle to thrust the top of his head up to collide against Spike's jaw.

"Aagh!" Spike cradled his jaw in his right-hand, snarling ferociously at the one who attacked him... Then, a sinister smile curled behind his lower jaws' fangs.

"So, the Fearless Leader, himself, has finally decided to show up." The larger-turtle grumbled out, pulling up his mighty Mace.

Leo recognized the weapon as being Raph's second favorite weapon... And, one of the very few weapons Leo had yet learned to wield when weapon training. So, like any weapon he wielded or not, he gave the mace a name.

_'Odo!'_

He glared at the large-turtle that forced Raphael to keep fighting without any weapons and nearly slamming his shell into the building, standing in-between the enhanced humanoid-turtle and his twin brother.

"I warned him this would happen," he said. "I knew Raph wouldn't set the mutagen in a safe spot, where it wouldn't be able to fall or break open. I had hope that he would be careful to not let an incident like this to happen, especially that would result either him or you, Spike, to mutate. I never expected it to turn you into...  _This_."

Spike snickered, seemingly pleased of the clear distress the blue-masked turtle is about the situation.

"And I'm glad that it did happen," he replied. "Now, I can finally exterminate the three of you nuisance, once and for all! Raphael can't see it, but he'll soon realize that this is for the best. And soon, nobody will get in his way or hold him back, ever again!"

His words puzzled the humanoid-wolf/turtle.

_'"Holding him back"? "For the best"? Did the mutagen messed with Spike's head, while going through his mutation?'_

_He sounds very clear of his choice of words and they hold such loyalty for Raph, despite that the two were just fighting to what looks like to the death!_

**_Like Beta, loyal to Alpha._ **

_'And if he thinks that getting rid of Don, Mikey and I, will help Raff become better and stronger, that means he most likely took his rants seriously and viewed us as distractions.'_

"And by the way, Leonardo. The name is Slash, now!" The giant turtle yelled, charging at the smaller-turtle, raising the mace over his head with his left-hand and exposing his claws with his right-hand.

Justice Leo was pairing to come up with an idea on whether to strike, or dodge...

"Aauuh!"  _ **"No!"**_

From the sky, Karasu came down and started pecking Spike in the head, screeching out her distress of the giant turtle wanting to hurt her big brother.

_**"Snap out of it, Sharp Beak! This is not you! Stop it!"** _

Whether the giant turtle can still hear her words and chose to ignore them, or no longer understands the Tongue of the Animal, the blue-masked turtle didn't know the answer to.

"Ack! Get off me, Karasu!" Slash yelled, covering his head with his left-arm while swatting the bird away with his right-hand, trying to avoid hurting her in any way possible but to get her to stop pecking him.

Leo took notice of the obvious change to Spike's behavior.

_'He had every intent to kill me, but then his mood changed when Karasu intervened... Maybe, the mutagen didn't completely changed him than I thought it would.'_

_Maybe, but from how he chose to have an aggressive anger like Raphael does, it's only a matter of time before his anger makes him go feral-like and actually hurt her._

Leonardo made his traditional high-whistling.

_***Pweeeeeeeet!*** _

Immediately, Karasu stopped pecking Slash and barely missing the swipe of his hand, the raven/crow-hybrid went to her brother's side, hovering over his head.

"Go home, Karasu. He only wants us, and it's clear that this is a matter that needs to be resolved... Get the canister back to the den."

Karasu doesn't approve of his orders; she knew, from the depths of her soul, that Spike won't listen to any reason Leo and the others will say to him. He's too blinded by his own anger, thanks to the corruption from the mutation process from the mutagen, and only has one thing going through his mind:  _ **Kill**_  them all!

…However, she has to listen to whatever command Leonardo gives her and if she were to get hurt from intervening, she'll end up as a distraction. Or worse, a hostage that Spike can use to get to Leo and the others. And if there's one thing the black-bird doesn't want cause, is the downfall of her own flock.

Reluctantly, she nodded her head and left her two brothers with the monster that used to be her companion.

 _'Don't get killed,'_ she prayed in her mind.

With Karasu safe and long gone, Leonardo turned to the giant turtle, raising his blades to a defensive pose.

Slash snickered darkly.

"You're really going to keep fighting me, even when you have no chance on winning…? Pathetic."

The blue-masked felt a bit insulted by Slash's words.

"You commended Raphael for his continuation to keep fighting you, even after you tossed aside his weapons and knew he has no chance on beating you. But, when I'm ready to keep fighting you, especially to protect my brother from you, you see me as nothing but a fool signing his Death Wish.  _-He sent a glance over to his red-masked brother, who wrapped his left-arm over his plastron and eyeing the larger-turtle in case he tries to attack and has to dodge, before turning back to the three-quart turtle-mutant.-_ Even when you intend to kill us, you still care for Raphael."

Slash growled at his words.

"I have no intention on killing Raphael  _-He pointed a clawed-finger at the blue-masked turtle.-_ Only  ** _you_** _,_ Donatello and Michelangelo."

Leo then noticed an orange-mask and a purple-mask wrapped around Slash's right-arm... Wearing them, as  ** _trophies_** _._  Leo's hands clenched tightly to his blade, as his nose also detect the scent of blood from the larger turtle.

 _'Don't. If I give in to anger, I'll be good as dead. I need to make Spike see that this isn't right. Plus, I can't run the risk of reopening my leg-wound. I need to play smart.'_ "And why do you want to kill us? What did we ever do, that you found to be justifiable to eliminate us? I would assume it would have to do with Raph, but I feel there's a more personal reason that you wish to do a terrible deed."

The larger-turtle sneered at him.

"Now I see why Raphael gets tired of you always seeming to have the answer to everything," he remarked. "But, I have to give it to you, you sure know how to figure a person out, with little time to come up with a conclusion… Yes, you're right. This is very much personal to me to ridding you three, but just as much for my own personal desire, I really am doing this for Raphael."

Leo can feel his twin glaring at what used to be his pet for five years, giving him relief that his own flesh and blood doesn't want anything that this monster is saying.

"And what makes you think Raphael wants us gone?"

Slash seemed very pleased when asked that question, as if he wanted the blue-masked turtle to ask that specific question and is more than happy to answer it.

"Why don't you ask him, yourself? After all…  _He_  would keep saying how much he wished he was on his own, and none of you were here with him."

At a very young age, he's learned how to tell when somebody is lying... And when he heard nothing but the truth from Slash, his words truly did wounded Leonardo. Once again, he turned to stare at his brother. His red-masked brother showed such regret and deep guilt on his face, which verified the larger-turtle's claim to being true.

 _'…Why, Raph…?'_ He wondered, though he knows why his own brother would spew out such hurtful words.  _'I know there are times that we get so caught up in our argument, and both Don and Mikey would drive us crazy by their antics... Do they really make you so mad, that you actually believe you want to be on your own?'_

"He would always say how much you three would get in his way, ignore what he think is the right choices to ensure an actual success during your missions against the Kraang." Slash continued. "You three aren't anywhere near Raphael's level of strength and determination, something that more than gives him the right to become leader. To why Splinter decided to make you leader and not Raphael, is still an enigma to me, especially since  _you_  didn't want to become leader in the first place. Although, I guess it couldn't be helped... For what you  _ **truly**_  are, Leonardo.

His words completely caught Leo off guard, as the cold-grip of fear clenched his heart.

_…He knows... Of course, he would know!_

**_Berserk-Kin knew Pup's secret, when still Earth-Young. Even going through mutation, Berserk-Kin still knows Pup's secret... Very much, like White Death and Rip Jaws knew._ **

_'Is-... Is he going to reveal it, right in front of Raph?'_

He hoped, with his entire being, that Slash won't utter a single word about his wolf-blood. Not in front of Raphael... Not  _now_.

Slash unsheathed his claws from his right-hand, his patience drawing to a near end.

"It doesn't really matter, on what you really are. And honestly, I don't really care. Once you three are gone, he can finally reach his full potential, with nothing to hold him back or get in his way, and become the greatest ninja he's meant to be!"

Leonardo glared at Slash.

 _'I hate to think this, but... Spike has truly became a monster, and he must be stopped.'_ "So, all because you've been there through all of Raph's ranting, that's more than a good enough reason to kill us? And if that isn't enough, what kind of personal reason do you have towards us, that you want to be rid of us? Did we do something to you?"

The snapping-turtle snarled with irritation.

"What is it with you and talking, when you're in a fight for your life?!" He yelled, slamming his mace into the ground beneath them. "How many more questions do you want me to answer, until you're satisfied and are ready to fight?! Seriously, how is it that Raph ended up being a twin to somebody like  _you_?!"

At that remark, Leonardo snarled at his newly turned brother.

"I always believe that words that ring with truth are much more powerful and held more meaning to resolve conflict, than weapons and bloodshed could ever solve.  _-Like a horse, he scraped his left-leg into the ground and stomped it right back down, demonstrating his own_ _frustration with his opponent.-_ To me, I wish to know the true cause for us to draw out our fangs and claws into battle, instead of fighting for a pointless matter that could be fixed in another way.  _That_  is the path I wish to choose, on how I follow the path of a true warrior. Unlike  _one_ , who lets their anger drive them in their madness for some meaningless vendetta."

At that, Slash roared and charged. In that moment, Leonardo ran towards his opponent, too.

The giant-turtle swiped his mace down to attack his opponent from above, but Leo saw the attack and forced himself to fall to the ground and slid past him, coming up behind him.

"Whatever personal reason you have towards Don, Mikey and I, it shouldn't be worth going through the trouble on killing us." He continued talking, purposely angering the larger-turtle to continue to attack in pure rage. "But, I never once recall any of us doing something so bad to  _you_ , that you find to being a good reason to wanting us dead, Spike."

"I already told you earlier, my name is  _ **Slash**_!  _-The three-quart turtle-mutant twisted himself as fast as he could and tried to bring down his mace, only for Leo to backflip out of the way.-_ And I already told you, I'm doing this for Raphael! He was the only one who cared for me and took care of me, ever since I hatched!  _He_  saved my  _ **LIFE**_!"

Caught off guard by his claim, Leo barely had time to duck from the claws that nearly ripped his head from his shoulders. His quick reflexes made the stitching in his leg pull and tug. It's a warning that he has to be careful, or they will pull and his blood will be spilled.

 _'He thinks Raph saved him? Why would he think that?!'_ He wondered, kneeling down and clenching on his injured leg.

_He shouldn't be able to remember the time he hatched, so he wouldn't know that it was you who really saved him... The most logical conclusion, most likely, Raph told him that he saved him._

Annoyed by that possible answer, the blue-masked turtle sent an annoyed glare to his brother. Judging from the slightly embarrassed glance away look Raph had on his face, his deduction has been confirmed to be correct.

"Let me guess: Raph told you that he saved you, didn't he? Whether he did or not, in your own delusional mind, he saved you and nothing will ever change that."

Slash growled, but held off on attacking him when his curiosity got him to wonder what his opponent was getting at.

"There is no doubt in my mind he did, in fact, saved me. You three were always caught up in your own worlds, none of you had the decency to even try and bond with me. I had honestly thought that you would in fact try to care for me, like Raphael did. And while I understood that you had to focus your attention on Karasu when you brought her over, you never made any attempt to get to know me."

"You're wrong, Spike!" Raphael, tired of being left out, called out. "Leo  _did_  take care of you! He even saved your life! Don't you remember? Don's accident, in the Lair?!"

The larger-turtle snarled, but the growl wasn't intended for either Leonardo or Raphael. he then grabbed part of his head with his right hand, as if a massive migraine just suddenly started hammering his brain with a jackhammer.

 _'Part of him must know that what he's doing is wrong. Whether his anger, also, got altered when he got mutated or doesn't want to believe what we're telling him, is a big mystery.'_ "Slash. When a human or an animal gets mutated from the mutagen, it changes them. Not just physically, but also mentally and, sometimes, even emotionally. It can alter your true personality and, when you least expect it, it'll even try and control you on it's own course."

Slash glared at him through the pain, growling.

"You're just trying to get into my head, just to save yourself from your demise!" He yelled, shaking off the pain in his head and charging for the smaller-turtle.

"Slash! Stop!" Raphael's plea fell on deaf ears.

The larger-turtle swiped his right-hand towards the kneeling turtle, forcing him throw himself backwards... Giving him the perfect opportunity to grab his injured right-leg and throw him against the ground four times.

Claws dug into his leg, tearing through stitches with ease and forcing blood to spill. Leonardo couldn't help but let out a yell of pain.

"Leo!" Raph charged, eyes filled with fire, and tried to lay an attack to get the larger-turtle to release his brother... He end up being forced backwards, when Slash used Leo as a replacement mace to attack him with.

"Stay out of this, Raphael!" He yelled, glaring down at the bleeding turtle in his hands. "I've been waiting to do this, for a  _very_  long time. Don't ruin this moment for us.  _-_ _Lifting the injured turtle up, so he can be eye-to-eye with his executioner, upside-down, Slash gave him a sinister smile.-_ You're about to get everything that's coming to you, Leonardo.  _-He positioned his mace behind him, intending to use it to finish the blue-masked turtle off.-_ Any last words you want to say,  _Fearless Leader_?"

Wincing, Leo can only gaze into Slash's changed eyes. Eyes that show to be so much like Raphael's... Only colder, and more like venom than something precious to symbolize to being part of the Earth.

He truly is their brother... And now, he was going to take the life of somebody he doesn't realize to now be related by blood to.

Leonardo gave him a sad look, feeling sad for his newly appointed brother, before closing his eyes, accepting his fate.

_**"...Watashi wa anata o yurusu."** _

Both Slash and Raphael were completely taken back by what he just said.

"…What?" The larger-turtle replied. He knew what the smaller-turtle just said, thanks to listening to the red-masked turtle, his brothers and father for speaking Japanese at an regular basis. He didn't expect those words for being his last choice of words.

"What you did tonight, and what you're going to do right now...  _ **Watashi wa anata o yurusu.**_ "

_I forgive you._

Stunned by his would-be victim's last words, Slash released him from his grip. He took a step back from the fallen turtle that struggled to get off the ground.

" _You_ … Forgive-…?" He's completely at a loss on what just happened. "You're about to die by my hand, my very  _claws_ , with the mace Raphael gave me and your choice for last words are 'I forgive you'?" His confusion turned to anger, his blood-covered hands clenching tight into a fist. "What kind of shit are you pulling?! What kind of fucked up reason, would have you decide to grant me your forgiveness?! Tell me, before I pummel you to paste!"

The blue-masked turtle lightly gasped for breath, reaching over to his injured leg and grab at it when the cramping feeling of pain coursed through his limb, before looking up at the larger-turtle towering over him. His eyes held no anger to the three-quart turtle-mutant.

"…You don't know," he answered. Slash glared down at him, demanding he explain himself. "You think you do, but you don't. Everything that you  _believe_  to be true, from your actual thoughts and memories you recollect or just by hearing it from one person, you don't know which is truth and which is lies. Which is why you don't know the truth... That  _I_  found your egg, five years ago."

Slash growled at him, extending his claws out.

"You're so content to stall the inevitable, you're willing to go as far as to lie. That's low, even for  _you_  to do, Leonardo."

"No, Spike! It's the truth!" Raphael yelled, going over to his brother's side and adding pressure to the open wound of Leo's leg. "Leo  ** _did_**  find your egg! When he ran away, he found your egg and did everything he could to help you hatch!"

He earned a snarl by his mutated pet.

"Stop making excuses for him, Raphael! It's sickening how you would pull the same shit he would always pull on you, when Donatello or Michelangelo would wrong you and he would take their side instead of yours!"

Also getting angry, Raph narrowed his eyes.

"Leo  _ **NEVER**_  takes side!" He growled, standing guard over his twin. "And neither would he ever lie, just to save himself! He isn't a coward, or weak. He offer you his forgiveness, while you still intend to kill him. That makes him a better person, a stronger turtle than you'll ever be. None of my brothers are a burden, an obstacle that's in my way! And I'll not stand by and let you hurt them,  _Slash_!"

At his words, Slash let out a chuckle of amusement. He looked pleased, even excited, as Raphael stomped his way to the three-quart turtle-mutant.

"That's right, Raph. We're not like the others." He said, shaking his hand that's still coated in Leonardo's blood. "We're powerful. Our anger makes us  _ **strong**_!"

Leonardo struggled to stand, but the blood underneath him made him slip back down to the ground. He can't stand by and let his brother take on the giant-turtle on his own... The enhanced turtle-mutant, who is their brother of blood.

 _'Raph… Don't.'_ He knows if he calls out, his word would go unheard and can't distract his twin from taking on Slash.

_**Get ready.** _

His Instinct's warning caught him a bit off guard.

_'"Get ready"? For what?'_

_**Blood, thick... Thicker than water.** _

He stared down at the small-pool his bleeding leg was making, then looked over at Slash, where his hand still dripped off blood he caused to spill. He then looked up at Raph... Who held up a finger.

It was puzzling. How was his twin going to stop a seven foot, three hundred pound mutant, with a single finger?

_Father!_

His Conscience's voice surprised the blue-masked turtle.

_Pressure Point! He's using Father's method!_

Slash's roar brought the turtle back to reality, his muscles flexing a bit, readying itself for what he realize is going to happen. The large turtle swiped his claws at Raphael, his rage blinding him from getting a clear hit on his target.

With ease, Raph dodged both the attacks and, timing it right, he ducked the third attack and raised his finger to make his mark.

"Meditate on this!"

His finger pressed into the spot underneath his right-arm, an inch away from his armpit.

…Barely adding pressure to the spot, Slash's expression looked as if he's having a stroke and his body twitched uncontrollably. With his body no longer in control, Raph snatched for Mikey and Don's ninja-masks. Slash's legs made him walk to where Leonardo crouched over, near the edge of the roof.

Immediately, Leo pushed his body to jump away from the uncontrollable turtle... In his place for the giant-turtle to walk into, the pool of his own blood... His footing slipped, and gravity pulled him back.

The blue-masked turtle's eyes widened.

"No!" He pushed himself to run, ignoring the protest in his right-leg, as he reached out for Slash's hand.

"Spike!" Raphael yelled, also running to the falling turtle and making a grab for his right-hand.

…They both missed, and Slash started his descend down to Earth.

"SPIKE!"

The giant turtle stared at both twins, his eyes flashing with fear, shock... And regret.

Before he reached the ground, Leonardo heard the rumbling sound of an animal's growl... Slash was calling out to him, in the Tongue of the Animal... It ended by the sound of concrete breaking.

Both turned away before the large-turtle hit the ground, neither one wanting to see the damage they caused to happen.

"Raph! Leo!"

A maskless Donatello called out, leaning on a maskless Michelangelo to help him reach their big brothers. Both are covered in bruises, their plastrons carrying new cuts that'll heal within a day or two and a few scrapes. While Mikey has a swollen eye and a possible concussion, Don's left-arm is in a sling and has a slight limp.

In the youngest-turtle's right-hand, are Yakuza and Kayura.

Raphael helped his older-twin to his feet, having him lean in against him and wrapped his left-arm over Leo's shell.

"Where's Spike?" Mikey asked, a slight trembling in his voice easily telling his older-brothers of his fear with the large-turtle.

Raph lowered his gaze, glaring down at the ground.

"He's gone." Was all he said, before starting his way to the Lair, pulling Leo alongside.

Neither of the two youngest needed to be told what to do, as they followed behind their big brothers.

While making their way for home, Leo's mind is greatly troubled to Slash's final words were to him.

_**"Lone Wolves are the first to fall…"** _

A warning or threat, most likely both, he didn't know. All he does know, is that his secret will now become his greatest weakness... And he knew, the next time they cross paths with Slash, the secret will be revealed to their enemies… Or, to his own brothers.

* * *

 **Back at the Lair…  
** "All right, that should do it, Leo." Donnie told his brother, after Splinter finished re-doing his stitching and examining them to be certain that they're tight and secure. "Now, you're gonna have to take it easy and not use that leg too much. Which means,  ** _NO_** training sessions for a week."

Leo smirked to his brother going into his Dr. Mode, even when he's bruised and has a broken-arm to care for.

"Right," he replied. "I'll still be able to continue my meditation session, so I won't complain about not having to train for a few days."  _'Besides, thanks to our enhanced healing, I'll be good as news in a day or two after the three days are up.'_

Don rolled his eyes to his brother getting around his injury and to still do training, along with purposely admitting to try and do training when he specifically said to not train for an entire week.

"Just try to take it easy, all right? You should take this time to let your body recuperate and try to get some food into your stomach; April brought over tea that should help you with your stomach, so hopefully that'll help you with your nausea and Insomnia."

Nodding his head, Leo got off the metal-table and, lifted his injured leg to only use his toes to help him move, left Don's Lab.

 _'That was an eventful night to remember,'_ he thought.

_No kidding._

**_Both good, and bad experience occurrence in Pup's life... Best take heed, what Pup learned tonight._ **

_'Yeah...'_

Entering the living-room, he found Michelangelo still playing that arcade game, trying to get back at his last level and beat Skullorax. Beside him, Raphael watches him play. Either to wait his turn to play or to mainly supervise the youngest-turtle, Leo didn't know which to guess on. Behind him, Don closed his lab door and, seeing his two brothers watching the youngest going at it on Atomic Robo-X, went over to join in on the action to see if Mikey can get back to Level Eighty-Three and re-reach the Boss Level.

Seeing all three of his brothers gathered together, enjoying each other's company, seemingly to recover their ordeal with Slash and repair their bond... It made the humanoid-wolf/turtle truly feel more like an outsider.

_Buck is right, you know. You need to tell them. And now seems like a very good time to do so, than putting it off any longer._

Leonardo's heart raced.

_'No! I can't.'_

_Slash knows! Either he's going to reveal it to them, or use it to his advantage to get back at you! It's better if they learned the secret of your blood from **you**!_

_**…Conscience is correct. Pup must inform Pack of Truth hidden with Lie… However, Pup's choices is own. Neither can force option onto Pup. Even if Berserk-Brother threatened Pup with warning, what Pup see best, is own decision... And consequences.** _

_'…Either choices, lead a dark path to the consequences that'll await for me... And honestly, I don't know which path is worse: My enemies learning my secret... Or my pack.'_

TBC

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I first saw the episode and when watching Leo playing tea party with the little girl, I can't be the only one who thought he would make a great parent from watching him interacting with Chloe. I mean, in the wiki, it even stated that he acts like a parent to Michelangelo sometimes when Master Splinter isn't with them while on patrol or about to enter a fight with their enemies.
> 
> *: Yes, normally, anybody would be suspicious of anybody carrying a weapon in plain sight. However, we don't ever see anyone's reaction when seeing an animal carrying a weapon (Maybe in cartoons, but not many showed much worry or concerns than they should). plus, in the show, Even after they went through the whole alien invasion in the ending of the first season and should know very well of the many abductions going on, they still act as if they're just going through their very first alien invasion.
> 
> I mean, seriously people! They see giant monsters running through the city, robots disguise as humans kidnapping people, even a giant metal ball that snatched people and animals up and trying to turn them into Kraang people/creatures. and yet, they all act as if they have completely forgotten those incidents actually happened and it's their first invasion. You would think after the first invasion, they would be more cautious and aware of their surroundings... Looks like they didn't learn, and won't ever learn.
> 
> *: I just made this song up, with some help from Google Translator… I hope the made-up song was okay.
> 
> *: Slash/Spike may be a few years old (Five or six at most), but turtles reached maturity between five to eight years old (Just as Leo said in this chapter). In such, Spike is an adult mutated-enhanced humanoid-turtle. Making him, in terms, the oldest amongst the turtles and their brother. If I were to take a guess on how old he would be as a human, probably between 21 to 23.
> 
> In other news… I'M A CHECKER! After almost 3 years of working at Vons, I finally got promoted at being a checker (started training on May 4th, fully started checking on the 5th)! Hopefully, I'll be making a bit more money, at least, than I was making as a Courtesy Clerk.
> 
> R&R


End file.
